Of Grimm and Nazis
by Spooky Skull Face
Summary: Karl Ruprecht Kroenen: Assassin, Occultist, Disciple of Rasputin and member of the National Socialist Party. In one reality he is impaled by an iron rebar while in another he is thrown into a portal of Eldritch origins. Now he finds himself in a world of Dust and Color. A world that is alien in both origin and character. Will he adapt? Or will he repeat the same mistakes?
1. Oblivion and Rebirth

He felt the rush of oblivion, the currents of the void. He felt light and heavy. He felt things that no human should have felt.

Was he alive?

Fleeting memories of events that might as well have been dreams swirled within his 'mind'. For even without any clear sensation he knew that he was thinking. That his consciousness was still present, which suggested he was still alive or in some form of existence.

He remembered a quaint city, of culture and music. A city of revolution and change.

Munchen, yes. He was slowly regaining what memory he had. His parents were formerly Prussian Junkers who lost their wealth and decided to resettle in Bavaria where his father managed to regain his fortunes as a textile merchant. His mother a strict God fearing woman of Protestant inclination surrounded by Catholics.

It seemed improbable but memories of his birth flooded as well. He remembered being tended to by a kindly old Doctor of Dutch descent. A memory that should be all but impossible to recall yet he clearly saw his face, and the home that he was born to

Then onwards to his childhood, one dominated by the heavy hand of a zealous woman. They discovered early his angelic singing voice, his parents quick to exploit his talents. He grew up to be a handsome boy of fair features, and a halo of golden hair. Participating in many Opera tours across the Kaiserriech until his voice deepened which brought forth the ended of his career

He remembered puberty, the abuses his authoritarian mother inflicted upon him early on had deeply impacted him. he learned to associate pain with pleasure, an almost ecstatic feeling that quickly became an addiction.

After that he parted himself from his parents, joining the army and fighting in WWI where he had the misfortune of falling victim to a gas attack and barely surviving. This event lead to the development towards a phobia of germs and contaminants. His masochism worsened as he removed parts of his body like eyelids and the lips, forcing himself to craft his own gasmask to ensure his survival as he attempted to reach bodily perfection. This lead to the discovery of a talent of tinkering, with him developing many clockwork devices for his own amusement. Even managing to create a clockwork nightingale that could imitate a Mozart aria perfectly.

Then he remembered the National Socialist Party and Adolf Hitler. This part of his life was more of a blur than his earlier memories. The one memory that stood out the most was his meeting of Rasputin, the Russian mystic who spoke of power beyond the imagining of men.

After Rasputin was the memory of him becoming the head of the Thule Society and Project Ragna Rok, which purpose was to bring fourth Dragon of Revelation that would cleanse the Earth.

Ah.

Now he remembered.

He had tried to grab the grenade that was thrown under the portal when the Allies interfered with the ritual.

The portal.

The blast from the grenade had sent him through the portal.

Karl Ruprecht Kroenen laughed in his mind. Realizing that he was now locked within an eternal prison.

* * *

A single raindrop touched his cheeks, he dazedly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, his limbs felt weak.

Wait.

His eyes opened widened. He felt, something on his skin. He felt broken, like every bone in his body had shattered

He stood up groggily, looking downwards at his clear and flawless skin. His fingernails and toenails were all there. His torso free of scars. He panicked, looked around the dark alleyway he found himself in. He dived into a large puddle of water, looking at his reflection.

His face, he hadn't seen this face when he was merely fifteen. His hands inspected every inch of it. His eyelids were there, his lips as well. His blue eyes blinking in astonishment and messy blond hair soaked with rainwater.

What was the meaning of this? Why was his body imperfect? And why was he not bothered by it?

He felt sick and weak, he didn't know just what had befallen him. He was floating within an empty space of nothingness and now he was in some sort of city?

He looked upwards, his jaw hanging slightly at the massive skyline he bore witness to. He saw pillars of light that pierced the clouds and giant zeppelin-esque battleships anchored on the sky itself and finally a shattered moon that shone red upon the earth.

Kroenen was quick to regain his bearings, after all as the head of the Thule Society he had seen many mystical and otherworldly things. A city with flying ships was not that much of a surprise. The first order of business was to find something to cover his butt naked body.

He spent a good five minutes navigating through this labyrinthine alleyway before encountering intelligent life.

"Y-YOU OWE US THE DUST JAEGER!" He saw tree humanoid beings dressed in white robes, strange bestial masks adorned their faces, the large one who nervously made a demand of an ordinary looking individual of Anglo complexion had horns jutting from his head, his two companions had long ears reminiscent of bunnies. They were standing outside what appeared to be the rear entrance of some store of some kind. The two of them were brandishing clubs while one of the rabbits had a strange hand held scythe.

Kroenen was sure that he had just chanced upon a mugging or extortion of some sort, yet the flippant and casual attitude of the human served a stark contrast to the nervous deposition of the beast-like robed ruffians. Then one of them saw him.

"Y-You there! Human! If you don't turn back now you won't get hurt!" One of the bunny men ordered futility, his droopy ears and stammering did not make him a serious threat at all.

"Yo! Young man who for some reason is walking around naked! I suggest you follow this klutz's advice and leave." The human with his brunette hair and silver eyes cheerfully yelled out, shifting the focus of the thugs back at him.

"Shut it Jaeger! The White Fang need you to pay your dues!" The Ox man growled out with marginally more energy than his compatriots.

After surveying this little confrontation Kroenen came to a conclusion. These three were completely out of there depth and the man they were trying to intimidate was far more likely to kill them than vice versa.

The bunny-man with the white fur disengaged from the conversation, approaching him steadily with the sickle in his hand in response to Kroenen's refusal to comply.

"Look we warned you hu-" Kroenen was quick, he grabbed his wrist with his left hand and took away his sickle with his right, using it to slice open his neck in one smooth continuous movement.

They were all frozen in a stupor, completely taken by the sudden murder. The Ox-man was the first to regain his senses, quickly fleeing the scene in a mad panic. The remaining bunny-man charged at him while screaming bloody murder.

"YOU KILLED MY BROTHER YO-" Kroenen wasted no time on him like his brother, efficiently and gracefully vaulting over the bunny-man with the sickle finding itself within his left nostril. His own momentum slicing his skull vertically.

He landed on a pool of rainwater and blood to the sound of clapping.

"I'm impressed, you killed two of the White Fang's cronies naked and with efficient grace. What's your name?" The man passed him by, offering his hand.

Kroenen hesitated, staring at his hand apprehensively.

"Karl Ruprecht Kroenen." He said in a soft and quiet voice as he grabbed the man's hand.

* * *

Two years had passed since he ended up in this place, his past of killing for the Third Reich now supplanted by a present killing for Schwartz Jaeger, a small time fence within the City of Atlas. Jaeger had quickly taught the boy about the world of Remnant, about Dust and the Grimm. He told him about the previous wars between the Kingdoms and the relationships between Faunus and Humans.

It reminded him of the Reich and the Jews. He had become an assassin for hire with Jaeger as his fixer. His specialty killing Faunas and he had quickly earned the nickname "Faunus Hunter", the White Fang in particular had placed a very exorbitant amount of lien on his head and unfortunately for them none were good enough to collect it. It was an embarrassment, grown men incapable of killing a seventeen year old boy. Although this seventeen year old boy was in fact a much older man who had learned the ways of swordsmanship and killing.

His most prolific and well-paying client was the Schnee Dust Company, whenever the SDC had a 'complication' involving the White Fang he was dispatched to 'solve' whatever problems were had. Eventually he became the go to asset whenever anything Faunus related needed to be dealt quietly, quickly and with appropriate violence. His relationship with Schnee blossomed into something resembling his earlier tutelage under Rasputin, the Schnee had given him access to many wonderful gadgets and lots of Dust; and in return he would further their interests with blade and blood.

Kroenen was confident that whatever happened in his previous life as Hitler's top assassin was pretty much done. He had no idea how he even arrived here but in the end he had no desire to return as well. Unlike his old self the new Kroenen no longer had the need to surgically modify himself, he was surprisingly satisfied with his current appearance although he still found no need to go out without his gasmask.

Indeed, he was wearing the specially designed gasmask he personally crafted right now as he stood at attention within the elevator that was taking him towards the office of Mister Schnee.

He looked at the glass plane that showed the city of Atlas to him, seeing a hazy mirror of himself. His gasmask was deliberately designed to resemble that of the White Fang, a mocking gesture and an effective way to confuse his prey. His coat and undergarments were almost an exact replica of his Waffen-SS uniform, only instead of black it was all white. He heard a bell ring out and doors opening.

He turned and entered the office of Mister Schnee.

"Ah Mister Totenkopf a pleasure to meet you once more." Schnee was as cold and icy as ever, his sculpted grey-white mustache was immaculately clean like his slick hair. He wore the same old double-breasted white jacket with his ever present red handkerchief.

Silber Totenkopf, literal translation Silver Skull. It was a ridiculous and absurd name, a name not even found in fiction. He had decided using it because of the strange naming conventions that were in place in this world for apparently Karl Ruprecht Kroenen was a 'ridiculous' name in the words of Schwartz.

"What is the purpose of my visit Mister Schnee?" Kroenen said in a much deeper voice, undergoing puberty all over again was troublesome. He had not missed the joys of discovering the very capricious and dangerous nature of the fairer sex.

"As blunt as ever, I need you for a long-term job, one that involves 'body guarding' for lack of a better term." The older man turned his attention to his personal scroll, his hands waving away the various screens.

"You will be enrolled within Beacon Academy in order to train yourself in the ways of the Huntsmen." At this Kroenen shifted in his seat.

"I'm sorry but I'm skilled enough in the ways of Dust, Aura and Semblance as it is. I see no need for me to attend such an institution unless it pertains to the contract itself. "Schnee looked at him, slowly nodding his head.

"The contract is protection and observation. I want you shadow this individual at all times." A screen blinked into existence, showing a girl in a white dress fighting against a giant armored knight.

"Weiss Schnee." Kroenen said surprisingly, recognizing Mister Schnee's youngest.

"Yes. My daughter" Kroenen chuckled slightly, the noise muffled by his mask.

"I didn't know you were capable of paternal love Schnee." At this the man's face hardened and his fist tightened.

"Do not be so casual with me assassin. I am still a client and I expect the respect accorded to one who holds your pay."Kroenen shrugged simply.

"As you wish Mister Schnee. Looks like I'm going back to school then." He took out his own scroll, downloading the data necessary for the job.

Before he left for the elevator Schnee gave some parting advice.

"Don't involve yourself too much into my daughters affairs. I want you to watch over her, not coddle her." Kroenen turned his head back, nodding silently.


	2. Red and Silver

**Notes:**  
 **-After this chapter I think I might need to get rid of the Weiss tag for this story**  
 **-When you see an asterisk go to the bottom of the page.**

* * *

The one thing he liked about this new world were the airships. So amazing, to fly in the sky like how one takes a cruise through the Atlantic. He had seen demons at work, he had seen Rasputin commit deeds that defied human imagination. Yet this simple ride in the sky had taken his breath away.

The trip to get here however was other thing. He didn't want to waste any time so he decided to cut a shortcut. A shortcut that involved lots of Grimm. Although he did enjoy his first battle with them fighting Ursas and Beowulf's over and over starting getting boring, but at least he got to Vale on time.

"N-Nice view eh?" Kroenen turned his head, he looked to his right. A nervous looking girl with short hair and a shaky deposition had asked that question and it looked like red was her favorite color judging from her clothing.

"Excuse me?" He said ***** numbly without any hint of emotion to betray.

"I-I okayi'mreallysorrymysis-"Kroenen raised his hand.

"Slowly." The girl took a long breath of air.

"My sister wanted me to talk to you and I refused but she said if I didn't she would do it and I didn't want her to say anything weird… but I guess now I'm being weird and so I - "Kroenen raised his hand again. He saw beyond her a smiling busty blonde who looked away in a panic when she realized Kroenen was looking at her.

"What's your name?" He said simply, hoping it would put a stop to this farce.

"Ah uhm Ruby Rose." She said with a bit of surprise and anxiety.

"Silber Totenkopf." Kroenen replied simply, after that there was a minute of silence.

"Uhm, where you from?" Ruby said in an effort to salvage this conversation.

"Atlas." He continued with his one word answers.

"Cool! How's Atlas like?" She said unmindful of how monotone he was.

"Big; lots of robots milling about, airships just moving across the skies just to look cool, cities designed by architects who think anything other than white is atrocious. You know Atlesian things." He was quickly approaching the quota he had for sentences today.

"Have you ever seen an Atlesian Knight-130 up close? I hear they're pretty good at what they do!" The girls excitable countenance was getting quite grating on his nerves.

"They're not that deadly." Kroenen decided that since he was going back to school he might as well sharpen his social skills.

"I bet even the weakest person in this ship could beat one on their own. The only thing that's going for them is numbers." Ruby perked up as Kroenen began being conversational.

"You sound like you've fought some! Although if you don't mind me asking why aren't you going to the Atlas Academy?"

"If you don't mind me asking? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that the first thing you say when you begin a conversation?" Ruby's face fell, she looked down at the floor, her index fingers touching each other.

"S-Sorry about that." Kroenen couldn't help but smirk. He didn't know if it was because he liked seeing her uncomfortable or because she might actually be growing on him.

"Your apology sucks but I'll take it." Ruby puffed her cheeks at his rude response.

"To answer your question my father didn't want me to go to Atlas Academy. He wanted me to 'broaden' my experiences or something like that." Kroenen repeated word for word the background story given to him by Mister Schnee.

"Oh your dad would love my dad. My dad is all about broadening experiences." Kroenen raised an eyebrow at that.

"You want our fathers to meet? I'm sorry but you're not my type. I don't see myself committing to such a long term relationship with a girl who gets too personal so quickly." Ruby reddened like a tomato, a shade of red almost deeper than her clothes.

"I-Ididn'tmeanthati'mnotsayingwe-"Kroenen raised his hand.

"That was a joke." He said in a monotone.

"O-Oh! I-I'm sorry I just don't understand sarcasm that much so excuse me if look like a dork." She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

"But you are a dork." Ruby puffed out her cheeks again.

"And you're mean." She muttered out.

"Better mean than a- hold on. How old are you?" Kroenen chastised himself for not noticing sooner. This Ruby seemed way younger than the rest.

"I-I uhm I'm 15." At that Kroenen straightened in surprise.

"Wait how? I thought you needed to be 17 to enter Beacon?" Kroenen was getting confused now.

"I-I'm a special case and got moved ahead." She sheepishly said in embarrassment.

'She might be competent.' Kroenen made a mental note to himself.

"How special are you?" Ruby was dumbfounded for a bit.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Why are you special?" Kroenen said with a bit more energy than normal.

"Well I meant I managed to beat a few bad guys with this baby." She took out her weapon a red scythe that seemed to incorporate a sniper rifle.

"Impressive." Kroenen said with genuine emotion.

"Yeah her name's Crescent Rose. I made her myself."

"Even more impressive. I made my own arms as well." The conversation had an awkward stop there. The girls excited expression meant only one thing.

"Want to see them?" Ruby's enthusiastic nodding spurred him to show them.

When Ruby laid her eyes on them she absolutely lost it.

"OHMYMAIDENSTHATS-"Kroenen took out his scythe-tonfas and sliced the air with them, flipping them like a composer before striking a pose *****.

At this Ruby froze in utter awe.

"Awesome." She said in reverent glee.

"Thank you." Kroenen said a bit arrogantly.

"T-They're like mini-Crescent Roses! Like if she made cute babies!" She started sputtering out.

"They're called Blitz and Krieg. Blitz the one on my right has an incorporated taser, while Krieg has an incorporated shotgun. "The twin scytche-tonfa hybrids were works of beauty, all silver with clockwork gears in motion within the shaft. The handles were designed as to allow free movement and fancy tricks.

"Y-You made them by yourself?" Kroenen nodded.

"C-Can you maybe sometime … hang out and trade weapon ideas?" Ruby said with a slight blush, her right leg twirling in place.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Ruby immediately went to full damage control, crossing her arms rapidly.

"NOIDIDNOTSAYTHATWORDCANYOUPLEASESTOPITWITHTHOSEKINDOFJOK- "The busty blonde from earlier came in, wrapping her arm around Ruby's neck.

"Hey there! You mind if I interrupt this conversation? "She said cheerfully.

"Well at least someone asks If I mind in the right context." Ruby puffed out her reddened cheeks, it seems he wasn't going to let that one die.

"I'm sorry if this questions seems a bit forward but are you flirting with my sister? "Ruby struggled even further at the mention of flirting.

"What if I was?" Both the blonde and Ruby stared at him. The blonde seemed to grow serious while Ruby just broke the laws of physics by being more red than red.

"Well as her older sister I have to tell you that I wouldn't allow my little sis to be swayed by a guy like you, besides she's too young to fall for pickup lines." She let go of Ruby, who was just now muttering under her breath.

"Try me." The blonde's eyes shone with an electric quality at Kroenen's defiant answer.

"Oh? Okay then try your pickup lines. Use your best one." The blonde's face was a centimeter away from his gasmask's lenses.

"I need to know the name of my opponent when a wager is made." She grinned.

"Yang Xiao Long."

"Alright Yang Xiao Long would you like to meet General Ironwood?" Kroenen whispered.

"Isn't he like the head of Atlas' military? How's that a pick up line." Kroenen raised his hand.

"No not James Ironwood. I'm asking you if you want to meet MY General Ironwood." Kroenen whispered.

Five seconds passed for them to process what he meant.

Ruby placed both her hands on her face, no doubt what innocence she had was all gone now.

Yang was clutching her sides. Her face contorted into one both of pain and mirth.

"I-I can't. T-That was the best line I-I've ever heard in my life. O-Oh I can't feel my lungs. I'm dying, I'm legitimately physically dying right now. You win." She said as she collapsed on the floor unable to contain her laughter.

"I aim to please." Kroenen said without any change in his tone.

* * *

"She left me." Ruby stated simply as Yang darted off to tend with her friends.

"Wells looks like it. It was nice knowing you Ruby." Kroenen said as well after the ship finished disembarking, Ruby however was going to have none of that.

"DON'T LEAAAAAVEEE MEEEE!" She called out in a dramatic fashion. Kroenen stopped in his tracks, completely annoyed at the attention they were getting.

"Fine." Ruby jumped and yelped out a small yay.

They were now walking towards what looked to be the main building of Beacon Academy, a large tower jutting into the sky. Ruby mouthed a wow whilst Kroenen shook his head at how childish she was.

Both of them were too distracted to see where they were going and bumped into someone.

"MY DUST!" A girl with silvery-snow hair grabbed her baggage and held onto it like dear life. She turned her attention towards Ruby.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA JUST WHAT YOU ALMOST DID!?YOU COULD MADE ME WASTE ALMOST A WEEKS WORTH OF DUST!" She started admonishing a very distressed Ruby.

"And- "She stopped and raised a finger to her chin.

"Do I know you?"

'Oh no.' For the first time in 47 years of his existence, Kroenen was in a slight panic. He was supposed to observe Weiss Schnee from afar. Not to bump into her within 10 minutes of exiting the airship. Ruby Rose had just jeopardized a mission of his more than the Allies did during Project Ragna Rok.

"You're from Atlas aren't you? Do you happen to know my sister?" Weiss said totally forgetting her anger at Ruby. The aforementioned 15-year-old breathe sighs of relief as the spotlight left her for Kroenen.

"Yes. I do." Kroenen was about to regret this.

"I'm your sister's secret admirer." Weiss reddened at his answer while Ruby looked alarmed.

"YOU'RE HIM! THE STALKER WITH THE GRIMM MASK! WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU HERE YOU WEIRDO!?" Weiss Schnee sputtered out.

"Ruby remember when I said I didn't go to Atlas because of my dad? I lied, I'm actually here for her." He thumbed towards Schnee.

"M-Me?!"

Kroenen knelt, prostrating himself before Weiss Schnee.

The one thing Kroenen had learned as an assassin that he felt was most important was that if subtly didn't work, then audacity did.

And he was being really audacious now.

He was technically correct when he said he was Winter's secret admirer. When Mister Schnee didn't send him off to be his personal one-man death squad he would often hire him to do trivial domestic things like pretending to be a fictional stalker to edge his daughter to get married. In Kroenen's professional opinion Mister Schnee's reading material for parenting shouldn't things that Himmler himself would use as advice for running the SS, but he was getting paid for it so he couldn't complain.

"I humbly ask you as sister of my goddess and reason for existence to please put forth my case towards her. I know that the last time we met she had threatened to feed me to a Beowulf but I believe if given the chance I can make her fall in love with me." Kroenen's completely serious delivery of those lines just confused Weiss and Ruby even more.

"As if anyone from the Schnee family would give you the time of day!"

Okay, ouch.

"Huh, nice to see that Schnee arrogance runs in the blood." A girl with raven black hair said, diverting Scene's attention.

"And you are?" Schnee said impatiently.

"Oh no one important, just a girl with strong opinions." The girl was sitting on the fountain that was the centerpiece of the courtyard, more focused on her book than Weiss.

"A girl with wrong opinions don't you mean? Don't act as if you know anything about the Schnee name." Kroenen rose up from his groveling position, offended that Weiss was not paying witness to his greatest acting yet.

"A family of greedy moguls with scandals and slave labor allegations up the wazoo. It really is that simple. " The girl finally focused her gaze on Weiss and by extension Kroenen.

She froze, her eyes widening in fear as she saw the mask he wore.

Kroenen rose as well, recognizing the girl for what she is.

'Faunus.'

The girl flew like shadow during the midst of Weiss' attempt to argue back.

"HEY DON'T YOU RUN OFF WHEN I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU OFF!" Weiss Schnee went after her with luggage in tow, she wasn't going to let the girl have the last word.

Weiss Schnee went past a bespectacled woman with what looked to be a horsewhip who was now quickly approaching Kroenen.

"Silber Totenkopf?" She asked.

"That is him speaking." Kroenen was getting annoyed, he had probably wasted an entire years' worth of words.

"The Headmaster wishes to speak with you." Kroenen nodded simply at this, turning his head towards Ruby.

"Hey dork looks like I'm not going be accompanying you from now on. You fine on your own?" Ruby puffed out her cheeks.

"I am not a dork and I can take care of myself thank you very much." Kroenen tipped his cap.

"See you then." He followed the tall woman, leaving Ruby to her own devices.

"Now who am I going to befriend now?" She said sadly as a young blonde boy next to her was looking around, obviously lost.

* * *

"Silber Totenkopf, I'm honored that Atlas' most deadliest assassin is attending my fine intuition of learning." A silver haired man with Himmler glasses passed by, a cup of coffee in his left hand and a cane on the other. He took a seat, bringing up screens from a scroll.

"I see my client has neglected to inform me you already know of my presence." Kroenen said annoyingly.

"Your client said nothing. I have my own independent resources. I regret to inform you that there might be several problems with your tutelage here." He said while resting his chin on his hands.

"Those problems are?"

"We can't find a team open for you." He brought forth a roster of names.

"You see in Beacon students form their own teams and it seems after a recount of the roster for the initiation there's going to be one person extra. " Kroenen shifted in his seat.

"If I recall correctly, aren't teams dependents on the students themselves?" Ozpin took a sip from his cup.

"You are a special case. The one and only reason you are here is because the Schnee Dust Company forced our hand. By definition you are an unwelcome guest, not a student." Ozpin said with a deadly edge in his tone.

"Ah I understand. I've worked with Schnee for years, I know how stubborn and irritating he is to deal with. I assume my little visit here serves a purpose? Maybe a little compromise?" Ozpin nodded in agreement.

"You will officially be your own team, it's highly irregular and completely against school protocol; however, seeing your records I doubt that would be much of a problem for you Faunus Hunter. In exchange for my little rule breaking I need you to do one thing for me." Ozipn bent forward.

"Do not make my students uncomfortable, that includes the Faunus." The way he said it almost make it sound like a threat.

"Is that all?"

"No that was not the favor, that was a warning. The favor is that I want you to watch over this student, you're basically doing what Schnee is already asking of you but for me." The screen changed to the picture of a very redheaded girl.

"Pyrrha Nikos, The Champion of Mistral. " Kroenen said without a hint of surprise.

"Will that be all?" Ozpin asked.

Kroenen crossed his arms.

"You know this is usually the part where I annoy you with questions about why I'm doing this and why her but thankfully for you I am a professional so I'm just going to leave now."

Before he left for the elevator Ozpin gave some parting advice.

"Don't involve yourself too much into my student's affairs. I want you to watch over her and not get her suspicious unlike your little show in the courtyard." Kroenen turned pointing his finger at him.

"I could have sworn that I heard that before. "He said simply before heading back out.

Ozpin stood up, walking until he stood before the glass that separated from the outside world.

"My Knight is watching over my Queen. I wonder what your pieces are doing my dear." Ozpin said to no one in particular, enjoying his cup of coffee.

* * *

 **1st asterisk: Kroenen's voice is Gideon Emery with a Bavarian accent.**  
 **2nd asterisk: Kroenen's pose is the image beside the title.**


	3. Shadow and Light

**Note: Unsure now about who to ship.**

* * *

As far as speeches go, Kroenen had heard better. Ozpin's speech about peace, tolerance and diversity was not as exciting as that of Hitler's call for total war and the waxing poetical about the Germanic race. Kroenen had heard the same before, in a correctional facility for young pubescents with a predilection towards violence. The tone was harsher and along with the platitudes about acceptance there was a hint of a threat that third chances aren't often given out hence he didn't pay much attention to it.

In fact, he spent much more time surveying the crowd for his new two targets. The Snow Queen and the Bronze Champion. Weiss Schnee looked irate, bothered and all those words that described consternation and annoyance for it seemed that she was unable to speak her mind against the mysterious black haired Faunus. Pyrrha Nikos in contrast was cool and collected, many near here in awe of her star power, calm and completely confident in herself. Yet there was a sinking suspicion in him that felt it was all but a mask to hide something far deeper. He had seen her type before, the type who appears perfect but in the inside is a far different individual. If Pyrrha Nikos was male and born in Germany she would have been a replica of himself, if she ends up becoming the way he is now is something that even he was unsure about.

After the assembly they were herded into temporary lodgings, large spacious halls where both genders were present. A poor decision in his opinion as it would lead to merely distractions for both genders. Kroenen unlike many of them saw no point in changing into more appropriate sleepwear and hence in his full regalia sat along an isolated corner far removed from most of the masses. Even this would not save him.

"H-Hey you mind if I bunk here bro?" Kroenen looked up, seeing a blonde young lad wearing the most embarrassing pajamas on Remnant.

Kittens? Really?

"It's fine." Initially Kroenen thought it fit to shoo the fool away, but realized in a stroke of genius that absolutely no one else would want to associate with someone who wears kitten pajamas. Letting him sleep here would have warded off any more interlopers.

He was soon going to regret it.

"S-So uh what's your name." He whispered whilst lying down on his mattress.

Kroenen was quiet for the longest time. He looked at his blue eyes staring at him. Waiting apprehensively for an answer.

"Silber Totenkopf." He sighed out defeated.

"A-Are you friends with Ruby?" Silber's shoulders slumped, what quality did he possess that attracted these types of weirdos?

"Friends is stretching it, we're associates." He clarified.

"Associates? She was gushing about you." Kroenen's muscles tightened.

"Gushing?" The boy shot up, his hands over his mouth.

"I-I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID THAT!" He said muffled. Kroenen stared at him, the foppish young lad so reminded him of her.

"A-All she said was that you were really cool!" He tried to backtrack, but it wasn't a convincing effort.

"Right." Kroenen droned out.

"So, what do you think of the girls here?" Kronene was on the verge of stabbing himself.

"I'm sorry… who are you?" The boy rubbed the back of his hand in an embarrassed fashion.

"J-Jaune Arc." D'Arc? Like the saint?

"Well D'Arc I'm sorry to inform you I have no interest in such things. I am here to become a Huntsman, no more no less. Anything else is a deviation from my objective." Jaune was taken back by such a forceful and absolute answer, in fact it was strong enough for him to shut up. For a while.

"Same here. I-I was just trying to make small talk is all. You know it's so amazing how skilled some of the students here are. There are 17 year olds sleeping with us who can fight a Beowulf when some adults can barely hurt a fly. "Jaune wistfully said, it sounded envious in its tone.

"Are you not among those students?" Jaune quickly avoided eye contact.

"W-Well I'm not good as any of these guys is all I can say." The evasiveness of his answer was a red flag for Kroenen.

"Show me your arms D'Arc." Jaune had a befuddled look to him, as if he didn't know how to respond.

"My name isn't D'Arc and why should I?" Kroenen chuckled.

"You're the one who started this conversation." Jaune scratched his head.

"A-Alright." Jaune took his weapon out of his duffel bag, a collapsible shield and sword.

"A wonderful weapon." Jaune blinked in surprise.

"Really? "It seems like that's the first time he's ever heard a compliment.

"Of course, the sword represents the martial spirit of man. It is the first tool made by man designed exclusively to wage war. The shield is man's perseverance, the endurance of man to fend against the elements and to live long enough for him to propagate his race. Together the sword and the shield are among man's greatest inventions, working in tandem with man they are the instruments of justice". Jaune was astonished.

"Wow, I didn't think of it like that. You're pretty smart Silber." Kroenen balked at Jaunes words.

"Pretty smart? Did you think I was some sort of idiot?" Jaune went through several cycles of embarrassed and admonished expressions.

"I-I- "Kroenen raised his hand.

"That was a joke." Jaune breathed a sigh of relief.

"Still though, I didn't think you're stupid. Just a bit scary maybe." Kroenen tilted his head.

"Is it because of my mask?" Jaune nodded.

"Yeah. I mean it looks so creepy, like an Ursa but with those weird wires coming out."

"You mean the respirator?"

"Wait that's a gas mask?" Kroenen palmed the masks forehead.

"Are you being obtuse on purpose?"

"I-I mean I just don't see why on Remnant would you need to wear a gas mask here." Kroene titled his head, not sure on how to answer the boy's question.

Finally, he found his answer.

"Why not? The gasmask is a modern invention but it has a rich symbolism to it. The mask is a rejection of the self, when I look at the mirror I do not see myself. I see a thing that transcends individuality. I see a Huntsman, one who devotes his life to a single purpose. The person behind the mask doesn't matter. The mask is all that is and will ever be. When I look at the mirror and see a face I see only distraction, when I see this mask I see the single path." Jaune gulped, a bit overwhelmed by Kroenen's little speech.

"Wow … that's a lot to process." Jaune uttered out.

"D'Arc do you just thoughtlessly agree to anything I say? There are people who'd say I had just basically blabbered out meaningless words and forcing them into random intellectual sounding sentences." Jaune just smiled embarrassingly.

"Y-Yeah well I never was that great in school." Kroenen chuckled.

"At least you admit it. You know D'Arc you aren't that bad. Good night." Before Jaune could correct the usage of his name Kroenen fell fast asleep.

"Well … I guess this is a good night then Silber." Jaune said as he curled up in his jammies. Delving on the meaning of Kroenen's words.

Kroenen meanwhile had a dream where he was in the role of D'Arc and his Kroenen was a man named Rasputin who desired to awaken Ogdru Jahad, the Dragon of Revelation, in order to destroy the Earth and produce a new Eden. An Eden where only the truth prevailed. An Eden that Kroenen had spent his life fighting for. An Eden that he will bring forth in this new world.

* * *

"But there's like nine of us?" Weiss said in confusion

The first thing that they looked forward to in the morning after was the initiation. Ozpin had just explained to the aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses what their objectives were. They were to be catapulted into the forest, there they had to fend for themselves against the various Grimm in order to take a relic from a temple. Although there was one problem.

The first person you saw was your partner for the entire duration of your school education. The fact that every student combined formed an odd number meant someone was going to get the short end of the stick.

"Oh, thank you for reminding me Ms Schnee. Please ignore Mr Totenkopf as if he didn't exist." All eyes were now on the individual in question.

'I think you might not like me Ozpin.' Totenkopf thought to himself.

"Why?" Ruby asked this question, a worried look on her face.

"Mr Totenkopf's tuition here is … a unique case. "Ozpin said, taking a sip of coffee.

"Unique case?! Why is he given preferential treatment?" Weiss was outraged, why on Remnant was this weirdo stalker so special.

"Ms Weiss, are you telling me that having no partner to assist you in your journey to becoming a Huntress is preferential treatment? If you do, then I regret to inform you that the only way you can get such treatment is to be sent to Beacon by the Menagerie Juvenile Correctional Facility. "Ozpin's words elicited great alarm with all present, including Goodwitch.

Kroenen licked his lips in annoyance, he didn't like it when he was taken by surprise.

The MJCF was located within the island of Menagerie that was formerly a prison for the Faunus. Now used for a 'nobler' purpose yet the facility has developed a dark reputation as a combat school for those young scoundrels, those with brutal attitudes and anti-social tendencies. A graduate from the MJCF was someone who had seen the worst of humanity, who had seen things that fueled the birth of Grimm and not only survive but thrived. Understandably they were treated differently from most other people.

Kroenen DID 'graduate' from the MJCF but it was for a job. It was his biggest job preceding this current one, but a job none the less. The past seems to catch up to you in mysterious ways.

"So you're just a thug then? And to think my opinion of you couldn't get lower." Kroenen silently chuckled to himself, the Schnee's haughty attitude amused him.

"If we're done sharing stories can we get on with it?" The black haired Faunus said, trying to cut through the newly weaved tension that had blanketed them. Her glare of hatred directed towards Kroenen was all he needed to confirm just how she felt about him.

"Alright then. Prepare yourselves." Ozpin nodded to Goodwitch to give her the go ahead.

One by one they were launched into the air. Kroenen took of his trench coat, revealing the tight fitting bodysuit underneath. On his torso was a bronze mechanical looking apparatus, several knobs and arterial wires were slithering out of several indentations. A cyan polygonal with a large stylized M within it was stamped on the apparatus' back.

This emblem was of great interest to Ozpin whose eyes widened slightly at the first sight of it.

The force that propelled Kroenen into the air was a familiar feeling. He took to the sky like an eagle, felt gravity and drag taking him to whenever he would land. All the while gripping tightly Blitz and Krieg.

The first thing that hit him was a mass of leaves then several branches. He felt his spine impacting on a thick root and felt numbness in his legs.

It seems he had been crippled.

Kroenen sighed internally.

Aura was the manifestation of one's soul, all living things were capable of using it. So what does it mean when one's Aura was in a flux?

Shwartz the Atlas fence who taught Kroenen in the way of Aura was at a complete loss at the state of Kroenen's Aura. It was chaotic, it ebbed and flowed. Aura was the manifestation of one's soul, did this mean Kroenen's own soul was somewhat damaged?

Kroenen propped himself against the tree's trunk, turning a knob on his chest several times. He felt a rush as Dust was directly pumped into his bloodstream.

This was a gift to him from the Schnee Dust Company an apparatus that allowed him to make up for his handicap.

He felt a tingling sensation in his legs as his Semblance realigned his spine into the right position. He stood up, stretching his arms and took a deep breath.

Time to move.

* * *

Like a jungle predator she stalked through the forest floor, her grace allowed her to move from a plethora of avenues. She found herself clinging to a tree branch looking down at the fighting that was taking place just below.

She saw a brutal killer and two Ursa's surrounding him.

The object of her scorn and hatred. One of the Ursas was unmoving on the ground. The other was directly behind him, about to give him a literal bear hug.

He arched his back, it looked so unnatural, like a ragdoll. The end of his shotgun-scythe tonfa directly in the Ursa's face. A loud shot rang out and the Ursa dissolved as it fell.

The remaining Ursa was about to get up; however, Silber planted his foot on its skull. His other scythe-tonfa was placed by its side. The creature roared in pain as volts of electricity coursed through its body.

She felt sick at the Grimm's pathetic screaming. He continued doing it for a good ten minutes. This was wrong, not even the Grimm deserved torture.

Thankfully the screaming came to an end as Silber decapitated the thing once its cries stopped entertaining him.

Now this was her chance.

Kroenen saw it coming, he tilted his head to the side by a single inch. The blade barely missing his head and implanting itself within a nearby tree trunk with a ribbon connecting it and reaching from behind. He was about to turn when the ribbon became tight and he felt a sharp kick on his back that launched him directly into the aforementioned tree trunk.

Why did it always had to be the spine?

Thankfully his Aura was working correctly this time and the force of the blow was mitigated somewhat.

He pushed himself from the new hole he created with his momentum and saw the blade flying back to whomever threw it in the first place, he turned and faced the interloper who attacked him. He wasn't surprised of their identity.

The Faunus girl, and it seemed she was ready to commit murder.

"I can't let you get away you monster." Kroenen's shoulders slumped in disappointment. He didn't have time for this.

He proceeded to ignore her, consulting his scroll for the most likely locations for the Relics.

It seemed she didn't take too kindly to it.

Gunshots crackled out as the soil near Kroenen's feet flew up, it managed to acquire his attention but he recovered quickly and continued onwards.

Blake just stood there letting him go, she didn't know what to do, she's never been ignored like this before.

Yet before she could react a loud angry yell broke her train of thought. A large Ursa was launched at a nearby tree, a fiery blonde haired warrior smiled at them with a fist implanted in the dissolving Grimm.

"Hey! You're Blake right!?" The blonde's red glowing eyes dimmed and her burning hair returned to normal as she approached her with her happy go lucky grin.

"Silber? Oh aren't you a lucky one, you alone with two pretty girls! Wanna help?" Blake looked incredibly uncomfortable as Yang wrapped her arm around her neck. Kroenen standing there silently as Yang winked at him teasingly. It seemed she was unfazed by the revelation of his prior schooling.

Odd

Blake was unconfident if Yang noticed their short fight or if Kroenen would out her for attacking him.

All he did was nod.

"Great! Come on guys! We need to find the others and the relics." Yang said with gusto.

Blake stared directly at Kroenen's eyes, confusion and curiosity plaguing her mind as she tried to see the eyes behind the lenses.

'What are you up to?' She questioned to herself.

"Now onwards my fellow students! To victory!" Yang tugged the very annoyed Blake towards a random direction, Kroenen wordlessly following their lead.

* * *

"Our last pairs have been formed Headmaster an- "Ozpin looked aimlessly into the forest below, Goodwitch picked up the change in his mood. He was a lot glummer than normal.

"What's wrong Ozpin?" Ozpin took a sip from his mug. Whatever was on his mind seemed to be more interesting than the initiation.

"Merlot." He said simply without making eye contact.

"Merlot? You mean Merlot Industries? The company that was headquarted at Mountain Glenn before it was overrun?" Goodwitch said to which Ozpin inclined his head by an inch in confirmation.

"Do you know that Merlot and the Schnee Dust Company were once ardent rivals Glynda?" Goodwitch lowered the scroll she was holding, scrutinizing the Headmaster.

"Why are you suddenly bringing Merlot up?" Ozpin looked at her, a slightly worried look on his face.

"Merlot Industries were leading innovators in Grimm research, when Mountain Glenn fell the Schnee Dust Company gobbled up their assets."

"You're not making this easier for me Ozpin." Ozpin chuckled.

"That Silber Totenkopf, you saw him removing his coat. Didn't you see the Merlot sigil on the back of that strange contraption he was wearing?" Goodwitch closed her eyes momentarily in a moment to recall that memory.

"Yes. Are you saying that Totenkopf might be using dangerous technology through Schnee?"

"No, I think Mr Totenkopf IS the dangerous technology." Before Goodwitch could ask for a clarification she felt a buzz on her right hand. She looked back at her scroll.

"I think you may need to look at this Headmaster." She handed the scroll to Ozpin.

"Well it looks like things are getting interesting." Ozpin whispered as he bore witness to the set of events that were now taking place.


	4. Tears and Pain

**Note: I think I know who to ship. Maybe**

* * *

The series of events that lead to Kroenen getting impaled on a Deathstalker stinger were difficult to explain due to the speed in which they had unfolded. The first thing that happened was Ruby falling from the sky just as they were about to leave from the temple that contained the relics. Her fall interrupted by the sudden appearance of Jaun, who from the west was flung into Ruby as they crashed into a nearby tree.

Next came the redheaded girl who talked to much who rode in on an Ursa, followed by her beleaguered and out of breath Asiatic companion. THEN after that Weiss fell from the sky as well, after hitching a ride on a huge Nevermore. Finally, Pyrrha was running out of the woods, a Deathstalker on her tail.

So much was happening for anyone to register what was going on fully.

"I'll handle this!" Ruby said out enthusiastically once they had regained their bearings, the strong-headed girl rushing after the giant Arachnid Grimm.

"RUBY!" Yang shouted out, Kroenen chased after her instinctively and in hindsight it seemed to have been a wise decision as the Nevermore from above had fired a storm of giant feathers that dug into the ground, creating a forest of spines. Kroenen looked back as Yang tried to find a way in. He looked forward at Ruby who was a few feet from his position, her cloak pinned by one of the feathers.

This is why you don't wear cloaks in a fight.

Kroenen moved trough the feathers, trying to get to her before the Deathstalker did first. It raised its stinger in preparation for a no doubt fatal strike. Kroenen got in, his scythe-tonfas ready.

He raised Blitz and Krieg, ready to parry the blow.

He saw a blur, and ice enveloped the creature. The bright flash that flared due to the magic blinded him for a second, he tried to compensate but it was too late.

The stinger stopped short of Ruby's face, most of it embedded in Kroenen's gut.

Kroenen cursed silently, he had forgotten to consciously use his Aura. This was one of the unfortunates of fighting as an assassin, if you actually needed to use your Aura to defend yourself then you were not a good assassin hence he neglected to teach himself how to use it instinctively. Well at least it missed his heart and the apparatus.

Kroenen's Semblance was different from most others. While many had an external effect on the world his focused the internal. He had the ability to mentally affect his bodily functions, divert the flow of blood and to even activate adrenaline consciously. He could ignore pain, control his breathing, even do things biologically impossible if he had some Dust. It had some drawbacks but experimentation courtesy of the Schnee Dust Company allowed him to circumvent some of them.

He inspected his wound further, realizing that in all likelihood his intestines and stomach were a mess. Whenever he was mortally injured Kroenen's Semblance would forcefully put him in an unconscious state in order to better repair it. To an assassin this was a surprisingly versatile and useful ability. He remembered exploiting this regeneration by stabbing his lungs in the MJCF in order to fool his fellow convicts into thinking he was dead. He woke up in the morgue, almost giving the coroner a heart attack.

He even 'remembered' surviving a point black gunshot wound to the head. Although he had several missing memories from that particular job.

Kroenen wretched the sting from his stomach. Blood dripping everywhere in a gory fashion.

He heard weeping, looking down at a distraught Ruby and a completely dumbfounded Weiss.

"S-Silber." She whispered out in utter disbelief as she saw the amount of blood dipping down into the earth.

He then looked back towards the others, and saw faces of utter horror and shock. Even the Faunas girl seemed to be taken back.

Oh wait, they didn't know about his Semblance.

He lost his balance falling towards the dirt but was caught by Ruby who gently set him down.

"Weiss the wound, close it up please!" Weiss knelt by his side, using Myrtenaster to staunch the bleeding.

Ruby herself tore off a piece of her cloak, wrapping it around his blood stained abdomen.

Kroenen didn't know if he would yell out in anger or cry in laughter. He almost had the right mind to tell them he was perfectly fine. Unfortunately, it was proving difficult to even breath. His Semblance was already beginning the regeneration process.

"Ruby he's lost a lot of blood. This isn't looking good." Weiss stated grimly.

"No..No! He's going to make it. I know it. Silber's a fighter!" Ruby's tears were now falling into his lenses, fogging them up and already making his blackening vision even more difficult to see through.

"RUBY! I-Is he going to be alright?!" He heard D'Arc speak out, when did they arrive? He didn't hear them approaching. It appears his hearing as well was shutting down.

He saw their faces above him in a circle. He saw the redhead and her worried expression, hands on her mouth in utter disbelief. Jaune was agitated looking back and forth between Ruby and Weiss. He saw Yang fired up, saying something to a hysterical Ruby. Pyrrha as well seemed to be losing her calm, saying what could have been advice to Weiss. Even Blake who seemed to know and despise who he really was seemed quite saddened of the entire affair.

Kroenen weakly raised his arm, taking something from his neck.

A locket.

"Silber?" Ruby sniffled as she felt the object in her hands. Kroenen closed her fingers up, the locket firmly in her grasp.

"Silber. Why are you giving me this?" Ruby looked at the necklace, it was beautiful. Made of pure silver. A series of strange looking runes etched across its surface.

She looked down and was mortified.

Silber stopped moving.

"Nonononononononononono. Someone please wake him up." Ruby was hyperventilating now, shaking Kroenen in an effort to rouse him from his sleep.

"Nora you can help, right?" Ren asked to which Nora nodded.

Weiss moved out of the way to let Nora through, the girl rubbed her hands as pink lightning danced between her fingers. She tried once, then twice and then thrice. All she got was Kroenen's body reacting slightly. She couldn't directly place her hands on his chest because of the bronze plate.

After about twenty seconds she had given up.

"I-It's not working." Nora shook her head.

Ruby's expression was frozen, she was still as ice, her hands intertwined with Kroenen's own unresponsive one.

Silber was dead. He was dead before school actually began in earnest.

In just a second's moment she thought back to the first time they met. His biting sarcasm and stoicism. How he managed to be so serious yet so playful. Her first friend in Beacon, dead in her arms. The years they could have had together, the years HE could have had with everyone. All gone. All because she was so stubborn.

She couldn't take it; her heart was in so much pain.

"Ruby. This isn't your fault." Yang began to start but Ruby wasn't having any of that.

"No it is. All of it's my fault. Kroenen's dead because he was protecting me. I-If I didn't just thoughtlessly run out he… he- "Yang hoisted her sister up and then slapped her, hard.

The sheer force of it took everyone by surprise.

"Snap out of it will you! We don't have time to assign blame!" Yang bellowed angrily.

"Yang that was a bit harsh!" Blake yelled out.

Ruby rubbed her stinging face, wiping away the tears and mucus with her sleeves before finally giving a hug to Yang.

"You're right. You're always right." Ruby said in a ragged voice.

Yang sighed, rubbing her sisters head as she wept into her arms.

"But what do we do now?" Jaun asked the million lien question.

"First we need to get the artifacts, then we need to return to the cliffs. Once we do so we can lead the instructors here so that we may lay our compatriot to rest." Pyrrha said somehow recovering from the shock of Kroenen's 'death'.

"That…. sounds like a plan." The pause in Weiss' speech was due to her looking at Kroenen, a tinge of regret as she recalled how rude she was to him.

"Wait! Before we go." Ruby had stabilized for now, her earlier torrent of emotions now dammed up. She took off the remnants of her cloak, and placed it over Kroenen.

Respecting the dead and all that.

Ruby looked at the bloodied locket, opening it and felt the rush of emotions threatening to pour out again. She saw the picture of a younger and more annoyed Silber. He was being manhandled by a giant bear of a man who was having the time of his life.

'His dad.' She noted bitterly.

She put on the pendant and stared steely at everyone. One death was enough; she wasn't going to let another happen.

"Let's do this." She said with iron in her voice.

All of them nodded in agreement.

* * *

He shot up upright. Taking a deep gasping breath. He felt pain intermingled with pleasure. He felt alive again. He looked down and saw a red cloth draped over his knees.

'Ruby's cloak?' He thought to himself.

He looked around, they were all gone. Ruby, Yang, the Faunus girl, Weiss and Jaun. Even the Nevermore and the Deathstalker who stabbed him were missing.

All that was with him were the forest of feathers, his blood and the red cloak.

He placed his palm on the red bandage wrapped around his gut. Hissing as he felt the sharp pain.

Blitz and Krieg were neatly laid by his side. He retrieved them and stood up groggily.

He turned in a three hundred sixty degrees arc. Trying to gain bearings of his environment. He reached for his gasmask, flipping a switch near where his ears were. The inbuilt scroll in his lenses activated. He wiped away the fog and stared at a digitized overhead map of the area. A blinking red light way out of his current direction.

'She took the pendant.' Kroenen said pleased, it seems the tracking device was still in working order.

Kroenen was about to head off, but stopped and stared at the red cloak on the ground. He spent a few moments in making a decision, taking the cloak and wearing it.

Might as well return it. A thank you for the attempt at 'saving' his life.

* * *

Even as Jaun yelled over the din of combat she couldn't help but hesitate. Jaun, Ren and Nora were currently fighting against the Deathstalker that killed one of their own. Ren had been swept aside like a doll, her heart twisted slightly in fear that another was going to be added to the tally of the dead. Her grip on the spear was weakening. Could she do this?

"PHYRRA COME ON SEVER ITS STINGER!" Jaun reiterated, the Deathstalker snapping away from across the chasm of the now broken bridge.

It's stinger listlessly dangling above it.

She took a deep breath and prepared to throw it but was interrupted.

A whirling storm of blades sliced its way through the Deathstalkers tail, the stinger impaling itself on its thorax. The blur of steel landed just behind them.

"S-Silber?" Jaun said with his jaws hanging.

The newly arisen Silber was on his knees, spinning away his blades. A dashing read cloak on his shoulders that made him look like a dorky superhero.

"Where are the others?" He asked unheeding of their confused dazes.

"HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?! ARE YOU A GHOST?! THIS IS SO SURR-"Pyrrha covered Nora's mouth. Shushing her.

"T-They're up ahead! Hurry I think they might need help against the Nevermore." Kroenen nodded, dashing right ahead.

"Now how are we going to get there." Jaun said absentmindedly.

Nora took out her grenade launcher, reconfiguring it into a Warhammer.

"WAIT NORA DON-"Jaun couldn't finish as Nora hammered the bridge into pieces, the momentum launching them towards the Deathstalker.

* * *

Weiss with a flourish froze the tail of the Nevermore, back flipping in preparation for Ruby's plan. Yet the architect herself seemed to hesitate.

"Ruby whats taking you!?" Yang yelled as she pulled back Blakes ribbon across the coulum, pulling it as tense as it allowed.

Ruby stared down the screeching Avian Grimm, mindlessly fiddling with the bloody pendant around her neck. Could she do this?

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She was pulled and forced to face an angry Weiss.

"Look Ruby I understand you're still glum over Silber but now's not the time. Show us what you can do." Weiss was oddly supportive, the look of irritation that Ruby had associated her with softening into one of sympathy.

"But-" The Nevermore screamed loudly, arching its back and spreading its wings.

"It's about to fire more of its feathers!" Blake yelled out in warning.

A flying tonfa-sycthe flew across the air and the blade embedded itself into the Grimm's eye, the Nevermore collapsed, madly bobbing its head in an attempt to dislodge the weapon only to get painfully electrocuted for its efforts.

The girls turned their head staring at a familiar figure.

Silber stood on top of a column, Ruby's cloak billowing dramatically.

Ruby's eyes widened, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

Silber was alive, somehow he was alive.

Before they could have a touching reunion Kroenen jumped down and dashed towards Ruby in a speed that even she thought was fast.

In one swift notion Kroenen swept Ruby off her feet, holding her in a bridal carry with only a single hand.

"What do you you're doing feeling my sister like that?!" Yang screamed in utter hysterics in response to Silber's actions. Completely forgetting that he had just rose from the dead.

Ruby's tears quickly dried as she tried to process just what was going on right now. Her face heating up as she felt his hand grabbing her thighs tightly.

In one single bound he leaped towards the ribbon, Ruby's and his mass stretching it backwards. Weiss regained her wits and quickly conjured a glyph to increase their momentum.

"You can do this Ruby." Ruby nodded at Weiss' parting words, pulling the bolt of Crescent Rose. Kroenen as well pumping his tonfa's shotgun.

They shout up with great speed, Ruby and Kroenen both firing their weapons cyclically in order to boost their momentum. As they neared the Nevermore Kroenen threw Ruby in a final effort to increase her momentum. She yelped in surprise as she bursted towards the Nevermore with her Semblance.

Kroenen crashed into a pile of rocks near the Nevermore's claws. He fought his way through the rubble just in time to see Ruby dragging the Grimm along the cliff, glyphs appearing before her steps as she reached the top and with one great pull decapitated the infernal creature.

It was an impressive sight.

* * *

The giddy hug he received hurt, but he didn't feel inclined to say anything about it. Ruby was just as fast in letting go as she was in embracing him, probably out of embarrassment.

"So uhm, well I think this is a good time if any. Ah how are you still alive?" Ruby asked. She was barely containing her relief in knowing he was still kicking.

"What do you think? My Semblance." The gang were converging on their position, directly below the base of the cliffs.

"So your Semblance is self-resurrection? That sounds pretty nice, probably great for parties eh?" Yang's joke fell flat as Kroenen started violently coughing.

"Hey Silber are you okay?" Ruby asked with renewed worry.

Kroenen frantically grabbed his gasmask, wrenching it away.

The girls gasped as they saw his face. Fine chiseled features marred by a hairless and heavily scarred scalp. Blood was seeping from his clear blue eyes, his aquiline knows and dripping from his strong jawbones.

Kroenen was gasping for breath now, his hands wrapped around his neck as he tried to ride this attack.

Ruby held on to him as she helped him maintain his balance. Her eyes alight with anxiety and fear.

"I'm fine. This happens." He gasped out.

"This happens?" Weiss had her hands on her hips, unsatisfied with such an answer.

"Yes, whenever I get hurt really badly. My Semblance kicks in, I pass out for a time and wake up fine and dandy, but it comes with a price." He said pointing to the blood pouring out of his orifices.

He was telling the truth in a backhanded manner. These attacks weren't exactly a result of using his Semblance. If he needed to be accurate he would have said that they were the symptoms of Dust infusion deficiency.

Kroenen had become a lab rat for the Schnee Dust Company's experiments on Dust and its direct biological effects on the human body. They had inherited this from the remains of Merlot Industries and their work on something called 'Project Chardonnay'. The infusion that they created was a prototype, it didn't have any addictive qualities but it was taxing on the body. Kroenen didn't care for the long term effects of it. He rarely made use of it, and if it were to kill him then let it kill him. He was chronologically 50. He had lived a long life.

"Does it hurt?" Kroenen looked as Ruby with an incredulous expression that screamed 'Yes Captain Obvious it does'.

"I-I'm sorry." Ruby looked down, teardrops hitting the ground.

"I'm so sorr-"Kroenen slammed her head with an open palm.

"Ow!" Ruby yelped out.

"Can you please stop crying? It's getting on my nerves." Kroenen said in annoyance.

"Hey don't be a jerk, she really was torn up when you were bleeding all over her." Blake for the first time since this conversation started spoke out, clearly upset that Kroenen was so callous of Ruby's feelings.

He stared at the Fanus with his eyes, eyes no longer hidden by plastic lenses. Blake slightly sifted her gaze, not willing to have a staring contest with such cold eyes.

He turned his attention back to Ruby, she was still sobbing quietly. He took off the cloak on his back, and placed it over her.

"There, a dorky cloak for a dorky girl." Ruby laughed.

She looked at him even with her reddened eyes, she still managed to smile. A soft and subtle thing that conveyed so many emotions. Warmth, gladness, relief, satisfaction and contentment.

Kroenen had to begrudgingly admit she had a pretty smile.

"I dunno the cloak suited you, you looked like a comic book hero….dork." Kroenen frowned.

"Okay copying my lines doesn't work for you. Try to be original please." Ruby never understood how Silber could say such things with such a calm and monotone voice.

Kroenen gagged out in pain as he felt another set of arms around his gut.

"YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU REALLY ARE ALIVE! FLESH BLOOD AND OH DEAR BLOOD!" Jaun let go as he saw the blood on his sleeves. Kroenen turned with a wince.

"D'Arc, please warn me next time." At that everyone burst into laughter. Much to Kroenen's chagrin. Why were they laughing? D'Arc could have had reopened the scar tissue and they'd have a repeat of that previous drama.

* * *

They were now seated within an airbus. Ozpin congratulating them on a job well done, barring the few 'hiccups' here and there. They were now on their way back to the Academy, where they would start their paths as Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Kroenen elected to seat himself near the door so he could be the first to leave, he had originally sat near D'Arc. Yet the boy had beem called on by Yang, and in his place a very irritated Ruby appeared. Her cheeks puffed up in a huff.

"Yang put you up to this right?" Ruby nodded in silent outrage.

"She really thinks we make a great couple doesn't she." Kroenen stared at her, his gasmask back on his face. Was she asking him or just stating it?

"Do you think it's because of the scythes?" Kroenen shrugged, that was as good an answer he could think of.

Things became quiet between them. Not for long though, a hallmark of most of his conversations as of late.

"Hey Silber, why'd you do it?" Ruby looked away, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Specifics please." Ruby struggled for a bit before turning and looking at him. Was she trying to fight the urge to look away or something?

"Why'd you save me?" She clarified.

"I can regenerate, you don't." Ruby seemed unconvinced.

"Is that all?" Kroenen placed a finger on his chin, trying to think of something that would get her to stop bugging him.

"What do Huntsmen do?" The question put Ruby off-balance.

"Fight against the Grimm?" Kroenen shook his head, disapproving of the answer.

"Try again." Ruby shut her eyes. Using what brainpower, she had to think of something.

"Sacrifice." Kroenen answered for her.

"Sacrifice?" That wasn't a word she expected to hear.

"Weather its your wants, your comfort or even your life. The purpose of being a Huntsman and Huntress is sacrifice. The Grimm are endless, they are relentless. No matter how good you are, eventually down in the line you must sacrifice something. It could be minor or something major, but you still need to sacrifice." Ruby was taken back by the sobriety of the answer.

"So you wanted to sacrifice yourself for me?" Kroenen nodded in confirmation.

"That and I think you're cute. "Ruby puffed out her reddening cheeks.

"Stop joking around. It's bad enough Yang does it too." Kroenen craned his neck near her ear.

"Who say's I'm joking? Kroenen whispered seductively.

Ruby pushed his face away, clearly annoyed and flustered in equal measure.

"Stoooooooop!" She whined as her cheeks burned up.

"Fine. Reject my advances. Not as if I died for you or anything." She hated how neutral his voice was, it was almost impossible to tell if he was serious or not.

Kroenen noticed she was fidgeting now, her thighs rubbing against each other.

"You want to say anything else?" She took something from her neck, the pendant.

"I suppose you want your locket back huh?" Kroenen waved her off.

"Keep it. Whenever you do something stupid I'll be there as long as he have that on." Which was a technically true statement.

That smile again, that annoyingly sickeningly sweet smile.

"I'll treasure it always." Gah this girl.

She was truly going to be the death of him.

* * *

A lone figure, deep within a forest a feathers.

A red moon, its baleful light shining on everything down below.

This being of cloak and shadow knelt, its gloved hands touching the dried blood that seeped into the ground.

It felt power, it felt the end of days.

"Your greatest son is now with us. Rasputin." The figure grinned their eyes burning with fire.


	5. The Black Knight and the Lonely Princess

**Note:Once more not sure who to ship again**

* * *

School life was boring. The stacks of 'manga' he read appeared to have been based on mere fiction. They said that life in the academies were magical moments, where friends and your potential soul mate can be found. A place where you flourish into adulthood and learn the lessons that will guide you in the years to come. That was all a lie. He should have not trusted Jaeger when he said that 'manga' were insightful guides into typical social life in the academies. Then again he never really trusted anyone ever.

He had learned more fighting in the Eastern Front in an hour when compared to what Beacon offered in a week. There was nothing but drama; low-level, typical, teenaged problems that could be easily rectified if the parties weren't emotionally imbalanced hormonal wrecks. Frankly he'd rather have his ass freeze in Stalingrad.

It had been some time since the initiation maybe under a month at most, unlike the rest of them Kroenen as expected of his special status had more flexible timings than most. In fact, he had no reigns at all, he suspected that Ozpin had no real interest in letting him learn. Kroenen was fine with that, he had learned a lot of things already.

His social life as well was different from most, other than Ruby and Jaun along with their immediate circle of friends not one student really had the courage to interact with him. The rumors around him were getting more ridiculous by the day, some of it was technically correct like his supposed immortality (He had a sinking suspicion that Nora perpetrated that story). Others like being Half-Grimm were hilarious in their complexity and depth. All in all, it served him. Fear was an effective tool, the half-truths and half-lies did well in obfuscating the true Kroenen.

Though if the REAL truth of Kroenen were to ever leak. These little gossipers and rumormongers would go pale in fright.

Speaking of obfuscation Kroenen had progressed in his observation of his two quarries. He had recovered from his earlier slipup with Schnee. The girl herself was too arrogant to notice him. While Jaun has proven himself to be actually useful as the Champion of Mistral seemed to be infatuated with him for reasons unknown.

The more he silently observed the Champion of Mistral the more he realized just how different the mask was from the consciousness. The image that was the Champion of Mistral was in fact a mere fabrication. Pyrrha was a phenomenally talented girl who hated her phenomenon. It baffled him, every one of her movements and interactions were a paradox. Tempered and disciplined, yet fearful and nervous.

It was a waste. Pyrrha Nikos offended him. She was actually jealous of the poor sheep around her. It was alien to him, the thought that one would curse their superior nature. Such fools deserved to have everything they hold dear taken from them for their idiocy.

Schnee on the other hand was marginally better. She inherited her family's arrogance and powerful Semblance. Schnee was outraged at Ruby being made the leader of her team, yet recently it seemed that had changed.

* * *

He walking around the school grounds, indulging in a mental exercise. How would I infiltrate this place from the outside? It was surprisingly difficult. The remoteness of Beacon and its height meant a dropship would be needed. The campus itself was filled with wide open spaces making sulking around difficult.

It was around dusk did he encounter Schnee. She was sitting near the fountain, lost in thought about something. They ended up staring at each other for some time. Kroenen was about to leave when Weiss called after him.

"Don't be rude! "That was what she said as Kroenen stopped in his steps. A bit taken back by how she seemed to be proactively calling for him.

"Were you about to contemplate on life too?" Kroenen looked at her. Seriously thinking if she was actually conversing with him in this moment.

"Don't just stand there! "He decided to entertain her for a while, taking the empty spot beside her on the bench.

"Did I say anything about taking my seat?" Kroenen was shocked, that question didn't sound contemptuous at all. It sounded playful rather haughty.

"You seem different." Weiss quieted down. Unsure about how to react to that statement.

"Do you think I should have become leader? "She said slowly, as if she wasn't confident she was asking that question correctly.

"No." Kroenen responded bluntly. Weiss didn't seem to mind. She looked down, kicking her feet absentmindedly.

"Why?" She asked innocently like if she were prodding him. Trying to gauge his receptivity. Was a Schnee actually trying to talk to him?

Kroenen looked at the setting sun, trying to formulate something that was concise and to the point.

"You're a hard worker." Was all he could think of.

Weiss raised her eyebrow in confusion. That was a weird answer.

"So hard workers don't become leaders?" Kroenen nodded slightly.

"Leadership, it's not a job. It's not something like farming the land, or accounting or killing. It's a trait, a talent." Kroenen said slowly as well. Lately he had realized he had become a bit of a motivational speaker of sorts. It was uncomfortable, but a small part of him was unsatisfied by how people conducted themselves here and thought imparting his own brand of wisdom might make them more tolerable to deal with.

"So…I don't possess that leadership talent then?" Weiss said dejectedly with a slight frown.

Kroenen raised his hand.

"I did not say that. The problem is Ruby is more adept at it than you are." Weiss blinked she wasn't following.

Kroenen sighed.

"She's annoying right? The nosiest, bundle of joy you've ever met correct?" Weiss looked down, then nodded in agreement.

"Yet you can't bring yourself to hate her. It's that magnetic charm. Ruby has an ability, to implant a sort of optimism in you. Remember my death? How did Ruby fare?" Weiss winched as she thought back to that particular episode.

"She freaked out. A lot, to be fair we all freaked out. Yang needed to step in. She slapped her hard and told her to harden up." Kroenen bobbed his head at her every word

"After that?" Weiss closed her eyes in recollection.

"Ruby took over." Weiss sighed in defeat, realizing now what Kroenen said of her magnetic personality.

"I died, yet Ruby was able to move on relatively quickly. That magnetic charm. She was able to galvanize all of you into action. She imposed her personality on all of you without anyone being aware of it. That is leadership, to make others do things that you want and making them want it as well." Weiss went slack-jawed for a while. A bit amazed by how …. scarily accurate Silber's analysis was.

Ruby really did take charge of everything, and annoyingly Jaun as well. When things seemed bleak the two of them took over and issued the orders, and no one felt compelled to disagree.

"So I don't have that charisma?" Kroenen craned his neck.

"No, I think you do. You have the good looks and the personality." Weiss' cheeks burned up a bit at that.

"W-What do you mean?" She stuttered out.

"Weiss you're a talented singer of some repute back at Atlas. Also don't misconstrue this as praise but you are beautiful even when judged by the more unorthodox beauty standards. Your fandoms are ridiculously big and frankly creepy as well. Your father almost never stops sen- "Kroenen stopped himself just at the right moment, but it was too late.

Weiss squinted at the mention of her father.

"My father?" Kroenen's eyes widened in utter bewilderment. This was unbelievable. He had just compromised his entire mission. Without even thinking about it.

This would never had happened back on Earth. Was he getting old? Or was it the hormones of youth? Why was he slowly slipping during his stay here? Did his interactions with these dorks erode his decade long instincts honed in war? To be honest ever since he had his brains blown out in that one mission he had noticed a drop in effectiveness. Wait damn it he was just trying to find an excuse for this. No point in that now. He needed to deal with the consequences.

"Silber. Why were just talking about my father?" Kroenen let out a big sigh. He messed up. He messed up immensely. There was no excuse for this. He honestly and frankly dug his own grave. Might as well come clean.

"I'm not actually just your sister's stalker. I work for your father." Weiss went through several stages of anger.

First was confusion, then realization, then shock and then finally fury.

"WHAT?!" She stood up, her hands on the hilt of Myrtenaster.

"It's all true. I was sent here as a spy to oversee your progress. I was instructed to not in any way come in direct contact with you and not only have I failed that I have as well revealed my duplicity as your father's minion. No matter what you do now, your father will no doubt be far harsher." Weiss couldn't help but feel more anger at how calm he was being. His neutral voice as monotonous as ever. It was irritating.

Yet she couldn't bear to hold on to her anger. He had just confessed so easily at this minor slip up. He was being honest. This was the first time she's heard sincerity from someone associated with her father. Not even Winter was this forthcoming.

Furthermore she should have predicted this. He was from Atlas, he stalked his sister, he had a unsavory past and seemed too know a bit too much for an ordinary thug.

Weiss let go of her grip on Myrtenaster, taking a deep breath.

"What do you do for my father?" She asked calmer now.

"Odds and ends, but mostly Faunus suppression."

"Faunus- "Weiss felt a deep, uncomfortable feeling in her gut sinking deeper and deeper. The next question she wanted to ask scared her. She was afraid to find out the answer.

"You want to know if the rumors about your father are true?" Kroenen interrupted for the sake of expediency.

"Yes…" Weiss said quietly.

"It's true. All of it." Weiss clenched her fists, she had her suspicions but that small sliver of hope always remained in her heart.

"You're the Faunus Hunter aren't you? The SDC's biggest dirtiest open secret." She sounded dejected, absolutely mortified at discovering the truth.

"Correct. I am the greatest thing that has ever happened to White Fang propaganda." Weiss felt ill at how nonchalant he was about it all.

"W-Why?" Weiss was choking up.

"In my case I get paid. Your father? Well he's a pretty sick guy." Weiss slapped him. He was half expecting it.

Too bad for her his gas mask was pretty great at absorbing blows.

"Stay away from me." She croaked out.

"Really? You're going to run away? Like father like daughter I suppose." Weiss' face contorted into anger, pure anger.

Myrtenaster was out, the blades point pointed at him.

Kroenen was calm throughout this entire ordeal. An attitude that was quickly reminding Weiss why she found him so irritating during their first impressions.

It was evening now; they were still alone in the courtyard. No one to interrupt their little show. She was both glad and nervous. She didn't want anyone to see this, but she also wanted someone preventing her doing something stupid.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? Avoid me? You and I will be seeing each other for as long as we go to Beacon. How many days do you think you can handle avoiding my mere presence? Let's avoid this teenage drama act and get to the point. Yes, your father uses me for wetwork and yes I've been not entirely honest about my intentions. I've answered two questions now; do you have any more that you wish for me to satisfy?" It was aggravating, she was going through a storm of emotions while he spoke softly, barely above a whisper. He was mature for a lack of a better word.

She wanted to hate him but she couldn't blame him for this. Not entirely.

"Why did my father send you to watch over me? Doesn't he trust me?" Weiss felt the wetness in her eyes. She was keeping herself in check.

"Your father trusts no one. Not even himself. "Weiss couldn't help but agree with that statement.

"You're right, but still I just….. I don't want to be stuck in his shadow." She was opening up now.

"You aren't though." Weiss looked at him with a distrustful expression.

"You're nothing like your father. You're hot-headed, you let your emotions get the best of you and most of all you have passion." Passion, that wasn't a word she expected.

"What do you mean by passion?" Kroenen craned his neck; it was going to ache at this point.

"You actually care about your goals. You have a fire burning deep within. Your father goes on living life like a dead man." The metaphor was clunky but Weiss understood it.

She couldn't help but smile at such faint praise.

"Thanks. I guess." Kroenen craned his neck for the umpteenth time.

"Thanks for what?" Weiss lowered Myrtenaster, rubbing the back of her head.

"For being honest with me." Kroenen chuckled.

"You call it honesty. I call it me seeing no reason to hide my failure." Weiss placed her hands on her hips.

"Still it's honesty. "She shrugged her shoulders.

The ensuing silence was uncomfortable. Kroenen continued to sit there, staring at her. Weiss had her right hand gripping her left wrist.

"You still haven't answered my question. Why did he send you?" Kroenen stood up striding towards her, she was able to realize how tall he was. She had to crane her head to meet his gaze.

"I don't know." He said patting her on the shoulder before going on his merry way.

"Wait." Kronen froze, people calling after him once a conversation ended was getting more common by the day. Just once could someone leave it at that?

"What do you think? Why did he send you?" She asked with soft eyes. Kroenen blinked, was she actually asking for his opinion?

A Schnee?

He had half the mind to take out his scroll and record this. He walked back, looking at her eyes through his lenses.

These Huntresses, they were monsters in combat. Yet looking at them now he only saw young girls. With all of their problems and all of their worries. These were not soldiers ready to die. These were children possessed of great powers that they took for granted.

It both disgusted him and amused him. In the MJCF he saw pyschos and mentally disturbed reprobates. Those who saw the horrors of the world and were broken by it. These students of Beacon, they freaked out over his fake death. How then would they handle those scenes that surpass death in their horror and depravity?

"Your father sends me to do a lot of things. Some of them things that you would find too awful to speak of in civil conversation. What your father doesn't do is waste my talents. My services do not come cheaply. I only get sent when your father values something. He spent a lot to get me into Beacon. All to watch over his daughter. Make up your own conclusions." Kroenen said in a step by step explanation.

"So you're saying he actually cares about me but expresses it in a weird roundabout way?" Kroenen raised his hand.

"I said nothing but make up your own conclusions. If you believe that is the case, then that is the case." Weiss scratched her head in confusion.

"I asked for you own opinion though…." She said quietly.

"Your father loves you." Weiss was taken back a bit. She never could envision someone as grim looking as Silber saying the word 'love'.

"What makes you say that?" She wanted to know his reason, she wanted to know if he was right. All her life she had felt her father thought of Winter and her as mistakes.

"Why did your father hire me to stalk your sister? Why did he hire me to stalk you now? The man is efficient and ruthless. He does not waste in frivolities. So why does he spend so much on you two?" Weiss frowned. His answer didn't satisfy her.

"That's easy. We're still Schnees. If anything happened to us it would reflect badly on him." Kroenen chuckled, unlike previous instances this one sounded more light-hearted albeit muffled.

"That is conclusion one would easily end with. I however think it isn't as easy as that. Your father had so many opportunities to make this easier for him. He could have sent you to the Atlas academy directly without having to make you fight some giant Knight, he could have prevented your sister joining the Atlas military. Let's be honest, I doubt the two of you would willingly resist your father when he put his mind on something." Again Silber displayed a frightening ability to produce accurate summations of her family's circumstances. He must have worked for her father for some time considering he knew of the Knight she had to fight in order for her father to accept her choice of Beacon or about that fiasco with Winter.

"I still can't see my dad showing anything close to resembling affection." Weiss felt both skepticism and hope. This was the first time someone has told her that her father might possibly care at all.

"If that's the case then ask him." Kroenen took out his scroll.

"What are you doing?" She looked at the display shimmering above his hand. Her eyes widening as she saw the face of her father.

"I'm informing Mr. Schnee that I have failed my mission." Weiss grabbed his wrist with a begging expression on her face.

"Please don't. I won't be able to stay in Beacon afterwards.! Kroenen smiled. He had a Schnee groveling for his mercy. It was a refreshing change.

"My honor and more importantly my reputation as an assassin depends on it. What will you offer me in return?" Weiss eyes darted in panic as she tried to think of something.

"I-I'll help you get together with Ruby." Kroenen dropped his scroll as he spat in his gasmask.

"What?" He said simply incredulous at her statement.

"D-Don't you like her?" Weiss asked relaxed now that the scroll wasn't in his hand.

"Has Yang been besmirching my good name?" Kroenen asked in indignation. That blond tramp was now taking this a bit too far.

"I-I just…you and Ruby just look like a cute couple is all?" Weiss rubbed her head. She sincerely thought Silber liked the girl.

"…..Is this why you asked for my opinion in the first place?" He couldn't believe it but he had a sinking suspicion why Weiss was so interested in talking with him in the first place.

"Well. You and Ruby seem pretty close. So I was curious to know what you felt about it." Kroenen slapped his mask's forehead. By the Dragon of Revelation this was actually happening. He had been duped by teenaged angst.

"You guys flirt a lot. Did you think people wouldn't notice?!" Weiss shrilly said with reddened lips. Her fists raised as she stamped her feet in a tantrum like fashion.

"You think that's flirting?" Weiss looked more incensed now.

"What does flirting look like to you then?!" All of the seriousness of their previous conversations were gone now. Now replaced by this performance.

Kroenen looked at her silently.

"I don't know." Weiss went slack jawed.

"You don't know? Then what was it you did with Ruby?" Kroenen shuffled his feet.

"Joking around?" Weiss stared at him utterly dumbfounded.

"I pity any girl who fall to your charms. I can't imagine the heartache she'd go through." Kroenen craned his neck.

"I have charm?" Weiss slapped her face in response to such a dense question.

"Of course you do! The entire female student body swoon over you!" Kroenen was curious at this. He had observed several female students giggling as he passed by. This confirmed his suspicions.

"Why?" Weiss was getting more and more heated up over this. Silber managed to accurately summarize the problems of her family but was unable to realize how attractive he was? She was sure he was just playing around.

"You're dark, you scream danger. You brood a lot and you're tall with a mysterious past. There are a lot of stories and rumors swirling over you. So many conversations start with girls fantasizing just what's underneath your mask." Well, he couldn't help but be flattered.

"You're not among those girls?" Weiss blushed, she blushed really hard. This was what she was talking about. That teasing tone and the way he innocently asked those questions.

"I-I know what you're trying to do. Don't think I'm anything like Ruby. I'm not going to let that charm of yours get to me." She huffed, crossing her arms in defiance.

"I'm not arrogant enough to think so. If there's one thing I know about the Schnee; is that they guard their hearts more than they guard their pride. Even if you were not born a Schnee; I am confident that you are not the type to so easily reveal their heart to others. For you charm wouldn't cut it; you'd need someone who understood you, someone willing to devote themselves in their entirety to you. Only the best for a Schnee." Kroenen said that with a tint of pity in his tone.

Weiss couldn't respond. How could she? With just one conversation he had figured her out so easily.

"Yes. Only the best for a Schnee." She repeated sadly.

"That drive for perfection will be your great undoing Weiss. It played a part in why you were passed over and it will make your time here difficult." Weiss looked down unwilling to look at him in shame.

She felt something on her shoulder, powerful hands gripping them gently. She looked up and saw his eyes. His actual blue eyes. For some reason they were visible underneath his lenses. Even in this lighting.

She felt her heart skip a beat.

"Don't let it consume you." He said with warmth in his tone. Actual warmth.

"Why do you care so much?" Tears now, she was crying. Why was she crying?

Kroenen stopped himself. He didn't know the answer to that question.

"When I was young. I had a voice that would make even soldiers weep. My mother encouraged me to harness that gift, often violently. When my voice deepened she discarded me like a used glove." Why was he saying this? He shouldn't be saying this. He could not be saying this. Yet he was and felt something lift from his shoulders.

Weiss wept into his chest. It was a quiet and pathetic sound. Kroenen froze, unsure now what to do.

So he hugged her. His instincts screamed at him not to do it. Yet somehow he felt he needed to do it.

What was this place doing to him?

After the crying died down she pushed him away gently. Looking at him again.

"Thank you Silber. You're one of the kindest people I've ever met." Kindest?

"It's getting late now. Kroenen said nervous. Now the lamplights turned on and the sounds of crickets echoed.

"Yeah, we have to get back." Weiss sniffled out.

"Are you okay going to the dorms by yourself?" Kroenen blurted out that question unthinking.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Weiss smiled. Weiss' smile was different from Ruby's. This one was of sadness intermingled with relief. A relief that finally she found someone who had an inkling of the depths beneath the surface. A smile of someone who finally found a home. It was a smile that terrified Kroenen in its implications.

Kroenen didn't know why but in that night he felt trepidation for the future. That night he felt for the first time regret for what he did.

That night he obsessed over that word.

Kindest.

No what he did was cruel.

He had made a girl feel hope for a long time. Hope in someone who had lost it long ago.

* * *

"Hey Ruby." Weiss asked out quietly, curious if she had already fell asleep.

The girls were in the midst of some games when Weiss arrived late, when they asked her about what she was doing at this hour she merely said that she was busy talking about life.

"Yeah Weiss?" Ruby answered slightly tired.

"I'm sorry." Weiss swallowed her tongue. Anxious about her answer.

"It's fine.I know how important being made leader was for you." Weiss sighed in relief, thankful that she didn't permanently ruin her relationship with the 15 year-old.

Silence returned, Weiss closed her eyes but something was bothering her.

"Ruby. Do you like Silber?" Weiss heard loud shifting and creaks of a bed.

"No I don't!We're just friends!" Ruby blurted out with a whisper.

"Do you mind if I go after him then?" There was a pregnant pause.

"D-Do you like him?" Ruby said with a slightly giddy tone.

"I think I do." Weiss said with a slight smile.

"Well then you go girl!" Ruby yelped as she felt a pillow landed on her face. An irate Yang grumpily telling her to quiet down.

Weiss closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

She dreamed she was stuck in a massive castle. Held prisoner by a seven headed dragon, riding it was a man who eerily looked like her father. She dreamed she was a princess and galloping to her rescue was frighting looking knight. He wore a helmet forged in a shape of a skull yet he fought the dragon with noble grace.

It was a nice dream.


	6. Cat and Skull

The cafeteria was an enormous section of the school; in his mind, they could have saved a lot of money and room if they tried to stop being so opulent. A thousand people could have fit in here, and last he noticed the school didn't have that many students or staff.

What baffled him more than the dining room itself was why he came here. Kroenen never ate in public, his dietary needs were unorthodox compared to the normal person, so it was indeed entirely pointless to even come here and to see others enjoy their meals.

Unlike most days, this however was starting to become interesting. His eyes were fixated on the table that was usually the spot of Team CRDL, a sorry bunch of average fighters if he ever saw one. They were currently tormenting the blonde-haired boy whose name he remembered was close to that of a French saint.

He did not really have any strong opinions on bullying, indeed he remembered being quiet the bully back when he was chronologically seventeen. In his mind, only weaklings allowed themselves to be bullied, hence were utterly deserving of such things if they don't do anything about it.

The saint boy limply walked away as he clambered back up after being tripped by that meathead Cardin.

It was pathetic, why was the meek loser even here?

He looked as he returned back to his own team, solemn and utterly defeated. He then shifted his gaze to Team RWBY. They seem to have noticed that little incident and didn't seem to be entirely pleased.

Kroenen lost interest for a while, rested his head-on cafeteria table that was being occupied by him and him alone.

Then something even more interesting happened.

Team CRDL had moved on to bullying a rabbit eared Faunus, Cardin tugging on her ears and his band of merry men laughing on.

He looked back to Team RWBY noticing the subtle but smoldering rage on a certain black haired beauty.

He had an evil idea.

He stood and quickly walked over their table with a clearly agitated pace. The other tables taking note of his uncharacteristic action.

Soon he found himself standing before Team CRDL, their sneering expressions turned towards him. The crying Faunus girl on the floor, looking at him as if he was her savior.

She was dead wrong.

"What do you think you are doing?" Kroenen asked in an icy and deathly whisper.

The earlier enthusiastic band of wastrels were now a lot quieter.

"Well if isn't the scary skull guy. You a Faunas lover?" Cardin was already on the floor when he finished that sentence. His yes-men shot up from their seats, utterly failing to even catch him move.

The cafeteria became oh so quiet, everyone's eyes focused on the fight that was going to erupt.

Team RWBY in particular were looking on intently. Blake was curious as to why Kroenen would have come to the aid of a Faunas.

"Say one more word and I will tear out your tongue and feed it to Grimm." Cardin placed his hand over his stinging bruise, he felt rage which quickly dissipated as he looked into the eyes of the person who floored him.

"Why did you touch this wretched beast?" It was quickly made apparent that he was referring to Velvet.

This situation was not what it initially appeared as.

"W-What?" Cardin could only gasp out. Kroenen squatted near him, his eyes boring into his soul.

"What do you think of the Faunus?" He asked dangerously, in a chilling voice that promised violence.

"T-They're just dumb animals? "Cardin was scared now, Kroenen was an intimidating figure from afar, his skull motif gas mask made him even more terrifying up close.

"Wrong. They are not animals; you insult such noble creatures by using such a slur. They are rabid beasts, worthless things undeserving of life. Not even the Grimm are so disgusting. "Kroenen wasn't quiet when he said that. The level of prejudice that Kroenen seem to have for the Faunus shocked even Cardin.

To Kroenen however this level of prejudice was actually quite normal back in his original life.

"W-What are you saying? Velvet asked incredulously as she took his words in.

Kroenen slowly looked at her, he looked at her with sheer utter contempt that was seething with rabid rage.

He grabbed her by the neck, flinging her away with a great force.

Many of the students were standing up now, taken back by the sudden violence.

Kroenen jumped upwards on the nearest table. Standing high as he looked down at Team CRDL.

"I am appalled by you maggots; your lukewarm prejudice sickens me." Kroenen declared, apparently enraged that Cardin and his team weren't racist enough.

"What is wrong with you!?" Blake yelled out, her eyes falling on Velvet who was being helped to her feet by her team.

Kroenen acknowledge her presence slightly. He cracked his neck.

"I am merely addressing several important issues here, chief among them is the fact that faunas are allowed to attend this academy."

Kroenen was and still is a racist, indeed if asked he would admit to it very simply and mildly. He truly did not consider Faunas as his equals, but then again he did not consider many people to be his equals.; however, Kroenen was not the sort to make such daring proclamations, standing atop a table and orating like the Fuhrer himself. He was not the sort to scream at the top of his lungs talking about the inferiority of those not Aryan, he much preferred to prove it through killing.

There was a method behind the madness, he had a good grasp on the personalities of both Ruby and Weiss. Now was Blake's turn and he was going to press her buttons as far as he could.

"Issues? What issues? Did you come here not knowing that the people who run this school aren't repulsive racists like you Silber?" Blake responded back fiercely, the anger and disgust in her voice very evident.

Yes this was doing it. She was clearly upset, and not only because of what he did to the Faunas girl. This was something she grew up with, something very close to her heart.

"Racist? I take offense to such a term! The Faunas are no race! They are scabs of creation! Mistakes of a catastrophic scale! I dare say they are the same kind as of the Grimm!" Blake froze solid in maddened fury. Kroenen couldn't help but take a quiet glee at prodding her with the proverbial stick.

The other members of RWBY were not idle during all of this. Ruby was utterly aghast, not expecting such hateful vitriol from her first friend from Beacon; Yang just had a scowl, crossing her arms as she looked at their verbal exchange with a quiet but not surprised fatigue; Weiss had her hands on her mouth, a bit taken back by the insults and hostility from both sides.

"You're despicable Silber. I knew it the moment I laid my eyes on you. People like you are the reason why peace isn't possible between humans and Faunas! You are completely blinded by your hate! This is the sort of thing that leads to the Grimm proliferating!" Kroenen relaxed, it was not a comforting thing.

"Peace?" Kroenen was quiet now, before he was acting; but now he was being very serious.

"You think peace is possible between man and beast?" Blake was taken back by his sudden change in posture and tone. No longer was he raving, now he was quiet, now he was acting like the Totenkopf they come to know.

"I believe it is." Blake answered a bit cautious.

"What you believe is a lie. Peace is an illusion, there is only struggle." Kroenen was being especially harsh now, this deluded notion of peace had stroked a chord in him.

"That's what you say. You're deluded Totenkopf. You see nothing but the faults and evils of the Faunas. Peace is not an illusion." Kroenen fought the urge to retch.

"How does the lion live?" Blake took some seconds to process his question.

"What do you mean?" Kroenen shook his head.

"The lion eats those which are his natural lessers, if he does not then he dies." Blake couldn't understand his point.

"The lion does not live in peace; he struggles and kills. He feasts on the lamb, for if he does not he dies. If the lamb escapes than it lives but the lion is one step closer to biological oblivion." Kroenen's monologue had captured the attentions of everyone present, he had this strange commanding aura that demanded respect.

"We're better than animals. We're civilized, we have technology, dust, we have knowledge an-".

"You cannot defy nature." Kroenen cut her off.

"Where was all this civilized wonder when the Great War happened? Where could they be found when the kingdoms fought one another? These were human civilizations that fought and killed; brother against brother. Why then must the Faunas be treated any better?" Blake bit her lip.

"People are flawed." She could only answer.

"No, people are bounded by a natural order. A higher principle or divine providence that creates a stratum between inferior and superior."

"Who determines who is who?" Blake was intrigued now.

"Easy, it is determined by fate. The Faunas have biological traits that should theoretically give them an edge over humans; but for some reason it is humans who rule kingdoms and it is the Faunas who play beggar, asking from their human masters to give them a taste of their power." Every Faunas in the room were obviously angered by his words.

"We aren't begging! We're fighting for them!" Blake said resolutely.

"No you are not, the White Fang I dare say are doing more than you lot." At the mention of the Faunas terrorist organization many people were obviously agitated, Weiss especially as her mood darkened.

"Why are you talking about the White Fang?" Blake said apprehensively.

"The White Fang are laughable and pathetic welps who nonetheless have learned a very important lesson that many Faunas rights activists fail to even consider. The only true power originates from violence and force." This horrified Blake, it horrified pretty much everyone. Even the usually easygoing Yang and the hyperactive Nora were disturbed by his answer.

"You're twisted Silber." Was all Blake could manage to say.

"You think asking for equality is all that takes? You think that is solely enough? The Faunas fought a war to unshackle their chains, what more then would they need to do to gain their true freedom? Men with power do not give it freely, they are either forced or threatened with the usage of force. The Grimm are a perfect example; they are an inscrutable entity and no amount of negotiation will stop them. They are the ultimate enemy to kill, because no matter how much you destroy, they always come back. They understand force and force only. So why not apply the same principles to politics?" Such an alien thinking was incomprehensible to most of these teens. They lived in a time of comparative peace, not exposed to the horrific violence that Kroenen was accustomed to.

"The Grimm are mindless; they aren't even alive. We're talking about people. With lives, hopes, dreams and so much more!" Kroenen chuckled darkly.

"So what? Are people with desires entitled to anything?" Kroenen failed to understand what she meant, and she failed to understand what he meant.

This was a divide that was deeper than Faunas vs Humans. This was a conflict of worldviews, of deeply entrenched beliefs that could not be reconciled with one another.

The brutal, uncompromising and unyielding doctrine of National Socialism against the hopeful, optimistic and progressive ethos of Beacon and Remnant. It was thesis and antithesis, the complete opposites facing each other.

"People are people! We can't just act as if they're Grimm! They can think! They can be reasoned with! They have lives" Blake exasperatedly stated as if it was an obvious answer.

It wasn't

"YOU cannot treat people as if they were better than Grimm, I however can without much difficulty. I despise reasonable people, compromise is death. You cannot compromise on freedom. To live is no miracle, indeed I believe that no being has a right to live at all." This was the turning point.

Blake's jaw fell, utterly breathless at such insanity.

Ruby was almost in the verge of tears, whatever her lofty thoughts on Silber were gone now.

Weiss was of a similar situation. She just couldn't believe the sweet and honest boy who understood her so well was utterly demented.

Even Yang was affected, visibly angered by the callousness that Kroenen showed.

Such degrees of disgust, shock and revulsion were common throughout the crowd.

10 minutes was all it took to solidify Silber's reputation as the sickest student enrolled in Beacon.

"You're a monster." Blake said harshly, seeing no point in continuing.

All Kroenen could do was laugh, a bloodcurdling noise that could make even Grimm shiver.

"No my dear Blake. The Grimm are monsters; I am far more terrifying. I am a man who realizes the truth of the world. There is nothing but the struggle. There is nothing but violence. Is that not what Huntsmen and Huntresses do? Tell me Blake. Would you exterminate the Grimm if it were possible?" Blake knew what he was aiming for.

"I'll do what's necessary. Don't make hunting Grimm sound more sinister than it really is Silber." Kroenen nodded his head, impressed.

"That is important, necessity. That is what the Faunas must realize if they wish to become higher than baser creatures. It means to eat like the lion and to flee as the lamb. In their struggle for true freedom, the Faunas must realize that their enemy is humanity itself." This was greatly disturbing.

Kroenen had started off as the raving demagogue, now he was advocating Faunas terrorism?

"I'm done arguing with you Silber. You're too deranged to know anything about what the Faunas need to do." It was sudden, he had jumped from atop the table and in a short span his lenses were inches from her eyes.

To Blake's credit she didn't flinch as hard as someone who'd normally experience such a rapid invasion of privacy.

"How many of your people were enslaved?" Blake felt her heart beat in panic as she realized Silber was addressing her as a Faunas.

Thankfully he was just whispering now.

She never really noticed how tall he was, he was maybe even slightly taller than Adam.

"How much death and misery has happened?" Blake wanted to tell him about her time in the White Fang, but then she realized he would have tried convincing her to return.

"Such divide cannot be fixed with words." His tone was less hostile now, it sounded like he was giving her advice.

"Blood can be answered by only blood." She grew uncomfortable, his blue eyes piercing right into her.

"Terror can only be fought with terror." He continued, even though several students were making noise now as high-heeled footsteps were echoing across the room.

"A people who does not fight and die for their existence do no deserve to live, If you want your freedom then you must wage bloody war and close your heart to pity." She couldn't believe it, a human supremacist actually encouraging her to fight, albeit through violent and sickening means.

"Mister Totenkopf!" Silber broke away, walking towards a very incensed Goodwitch.

Blake found herself standing there, completely numb to the world outside.

She felt filthy, like she had been dirtied when Silber went so close against her.

But she couldn't help but feel horrified to know she was sympathizing with Totenkopf.

So many within the White Fang believed in what he did, and that was the reason she left; but even she realized the conflict between the humans and the Faunas would not heal through normal means.

She looked at Silber's fleeting form, as he was taken away by Goodwitch. No fear nor hesitation.

What was he?

"Did he hurt you Blake?" Yang asked in concern, Ruby and Weiss quickly by her side as well.

She couldn't answer.

* * *

She laid on her bed, after a hard day of school.

She didn't know what happened to Totenkopf, all she knew was that he was punished.

She couldn't stop thinking about him. Her mind occupied by the name Silber Totenkopf.

She had hated him, hated him the very moment she laid her eyes on him. She thought she was no different from every other Faunas hating fanatic. She thought he was just a mindless bigot.

But he wasn't, Silber was many things; but he wasn't dumb. She realized that.

She was afraid, intensely curious about someone she shouldn't even think about.

The Faunas Hunter had intrigued her.

He was so intense and so driven. He ardently believe in what he was talking about, no matter how much of his beliefs utterly repulsed her she couldn't help but be taken back by his absolute passion.

He was dark, so full of dangerous secrets. He was a threat to her, a threat to what she stood for.

She advocated peace, he advocated terror.

Why?

He was the Faunas Hunter, a human supremacist and lap dog of the Schnee. He was a figure born of her nightmares and hatred. Not a person but a thing to be despised.

Yet she couldn't stop remembering how he told her to fight for what she believed. For the longest time she was doubting herself, doubting the course she was taking as a Huntress.

Too hear someone like Totenkopf telling that to her.

It confused and angered her.

He shouldn't have been the one to tell her that, not after all he had done. Not with the blood on his hands.

He had no right to tell her to live.

She held her knees, and felt wetness in her tears.

She hated him.

She hated him so much.

Not because he was a racist jerk.

No it was because out of everyone in Beacon.

It was Silber: quiet, cruel, murderous and pitiless Silber who she she understood the most. His drive, his passion, his mind and his demented view of the world. She thought she couldn't fathom such a thing; but she could and that scared her.

And a small part of her was terrified of the implications of Totenkopf knowing who she really was.

She placed a had on her bow, feeling the ears beneath.

She couldn't help but think Silber would not reveal her just yet.

She couldn't help but think Silber understood her just as much as she understood him. 


	7. Sun and Lightning

"Hatemonger" That was the word Ozpin used in referring to his stunt in the cafeteria. It was so bad that he had to inform Herr Schnee that their arrangement was in jeopardy if Kroenen's antics continued.

It grew even more awkward when he had to inform the man that he had failed in his mission and that Weiss already knew.

Needless to say, his future with the Schnee Dust Company was dead in the water.

He had been effectively terminated, this contract was to be his last with the Schnee family. Surprisingly Herr Schnee did not think to recall him as he ordered that he continued with his observation of Weiss Schnee and her growth in Beacon. Though by the end of her tutelage his contract would be void and that he would be paid for his dutiful service under the Schnee.

Ozpin as well did his own disciplining, the janitorial staff now had a new temporary addition for the remainder of his time in Beacon. In Ozpin's words if Velvet had decided to have her word he'd have him expelled and that he was lucky.

Kroenen had a sinking suspicion that there was more to this.

He was not employed under the Schnee solely because he was an effective assassin.

He was among their most prized assests, his schematics and knowledge of the inner workings of the human body was what allowed them to go so far with biomedical technology. Without his genius, they would have been incapable of even producing half of the things that was implanted deep within him.

Speaking of implants he was also their most prized genuine pig. A mere test subject for their most advanced and most unethical research into dust. That part of the contact along with ownership over his patented inventions remained intact, they would still send in the dust effusion elixirs that had effectively made him their slave through his addiction to them.

He looked into the mirror, his torso bare.

His room was nearly empty, devoid of anypersonal knick knacks that one could use to delve into Kroenen's psyche. A spartan enviroment that only had a bed and still unpacked luggage with his few personal effects.

A bronze plate was in place of his chest, welded into the very flesh. This was the first of Schnee's experiments.

An integrated computer that improved one's aural capabilities. It was the only thing that kept his fluctuating aura in place. It allowed him to go past speeds beyond human comprehension with the reflexes to match. This was also the thing that mutilated his very soul.

It had several nodes and knobs that effectively controlled the modified processes in his body through his heart.

His blood was Dust itself now.

His heart did not beat, it hummed and whirred mechanically. It was a device of his own creation; built upon a clockwork version he had designed back in his old world.

He was effectively superhuman, an ubermensch.

He was a perfect specimen of the Aryan race.

It did not feel right.

He turned and craned his neck to oversee his back.

A polymer material had ben grafted over his spinal cord, located after every four vertebrae was a hollow indentation. These were the ports for the dust effusion injectors, this was where the harness became conjoined with his body.

The harness itself was a specialized device, created by Merlot Industries instead of the Schnee Dust Company. It was effectively another form of body armor that protected the vials of dust that would be injected into his body when required.

He stared at the two tattoos over his shoulder blades, the only places that were still of his natural body's skin.

The one on the left was the hakenkreuz of the National Socialist Party, the Swatiska. In his old world, it was the symbol of the revitalized German Reich, one that elicited fear and hatred among so many. In this new world, it had become the symbol of Anti-Faunus resistance. The sigil of Werwolf, or the Black Fang as it was colloquially known. He could only imagine the face Blake would have if she saw it or if she discovered the extent of his personal hand in the organization's creation.

The other tattoo on the right was something more esoteric. A two-sided hook, the opfer rune. A rotated version of the Eihwaz rune from the Futhark alphabet. It symbolized self-sacrifice. Rasputin had never liked the rune; he had derided the SS for their pseudo-occultist nonsense but Kroenen couldn't help but be sentimental.

Kroenen never had a taste for tattoos, mutilations were far more preferable; however, ever since he became stuck in this strange place he wanted some sort of remainder of where he came from.

He turned back to his front again.

He looked as he raised both of his arms, they were not made of flesh but of plastic and alloy. He had lost his previous arms in an incident, his first fight against the leader of the White Fang.

Kroenen lost his arms, but the dangerous Faunus had lost an eye.

It was one of the few wounds he had received in this new world that would not heal.

It would be a fight he would never forget.

He stared hard and long into his face.

Scarred and rough, no different from when he was still in his old body. His blue eyes reflected back to him. They were dead eyes, no joy and no passion.

They were the eyes of a man who's seen too much.

"Who are you?" He asked absentmindedly.

He remembered his first conversation with Ruby, he remembered his faux death, his intimate moment with Weiss and the recent fiasco in the cafeteria.

Beacon was changing him, he felt that more and more of Karl Ruprecht Kroenen was dying. His identity being slowly taken by the being known as Silber Totenkopf.

Remnant had taken his soul.

Question is how much of it was left when he first arrived here.

"What are you?" He looked at the amalgamation of metal, plastic and meat. He became dependent on the dust infusions. He had deluded himself into thinking otherwise. His conflict with Schnee had opened his eyes, he had panicked for only a moment at the realization they could revoke his access to the substance; but that single span of weakness shook him out of his reverie.

He was addicted.

He had been enslaved.

He remembered a time when he would have thought these mutilations as gifts that had brought him closer to bodily perfection; he remembered that this combination of man and machine would have elicited great enthusiasm from a younger Kroenen.

Now he felt only disgust.

And he didn't know why.

"Why am I here?" He asked again.

He had failed his assignment, the first that was through his own damned fault. There was no point in remaining in this school, filled with stupid adolescents still ignorant of the cruelty of the world outside.

"Why am I still here?" He quietly asked.

Why did he continue living on?

What was the point?

Project Ragna Rok must have failed with the portal destroyed, the Third Reich should have fallen by now. Why was he sent here? Why did he remain here?

What was the point of struggling to live in a world that he didn't belong to?

He was promised Eden, paradise free from the filth of baser humanity. He had killed, he had participated in genocide, he had zealously followed in blind faith because of that beautiful promise. He had given up everything to further the cause of the Dragon of Revelation.

Now that promise was dust and ash.

He had destroyed, and nothing was created.

He had no purpose.

He had no desire to live.

Kroenen walked over to the Merlot apparatus that was located near his bead, it still had half a dozen of dust infusion elixirs left. Just enough to last him through three months.

He took one of the vials, inspecting the viscous purplish liquid that was contained within.

He crushed it in his hand, the glass shards would have lacerated his flesh if they were still there.

He looked back towards the five remaining vials.

He no longer had any use for them.

"Why should I remain here?" He asked the final question, the only question that mattered.

* * *

Things were painfully awkward, after that bout of drama involving Silber none of the girls seemed to be their usual selves.

Ruby tried to put on a brave face, but Yang knew that she was despondent inside.

Weiss was for a lack of a better term heartbroken, Yang didn't know what would elicit such a response. Her haughty demeanor almost gone.

Blake was livid with anger, almost impossible to calm down. A far cry from the usually stoic girl.

"Why is he still here?!" Blake exclaimed to no one in particular after they discovered Silber had been punished with community service.

"Blake calm down." Yang knew it was a pointless exercise to say, but it was something.

"Calm down? They're letting in a known racist and murderer remain in this school!" She proceeded to say in indignation.

"You can't do anything about it Blake. The Headmaster makes the decisions." Blake's look of anger towards Weiss meant something was about to get down.

"Leave it to a Schnee to defend her pet dog." A large wet smack echoed across the room.

Blake felt the stinging skin on her cheek, a bit taken back by the sudden slap.

Weiss was shaking, tears freefalling.

"Don't you care compare me to my father ….. or that animal." She said with equal parts pain and fury.

"G-Guys stop." Ruby was really upset now, on the verge of tears as well.

Yang hated this.

"ENOUGH ALL OF YOU!" She shouted them all down, her golden locks illuminating for a moment.

All of them heeded her words. Blake calming herself, Weiss wiped off her tears and Ruby was normal again.

"Blake, don't blame Weiss for Silber being just a jerk." The tone Yang used meant she wasn't taking a no so Blake quietly complied.

"Weiss, talking to Blake while she's fuming isn't a smart thing to do." Weiss limply nodded her head.

"Ruby, I understand that Silber is your first friend in Beacon; but he isn't worth the effort." Ruby was about to talk back, her hand enclosed around Silber's locket.

"Ruby." Yang said severely before she had the chance.

She promptly shut up.

"Why are you accusing Weiss of defending her dog?" Yang asked of Blake.

"He's the Faunus Hunter." Seeing Weiss' shamed affirmatory nod meant that statement is true.

"Who?" Ruby asked cautiously, seemingly not wanting to know more about Silber.

"A famous serial killer from Atlas who targets Faunus according to official sources. To people who aren't as ignorant, he's an assassin who works for the Schnee Dust Company. A sadistic murderer hired to oppress and eliminate any Faunus who pose a threat to them." Weiss could only look away in anger as Blake continued.

"S-Silber?" Ruby said slowly, she couldn't believe it.

"How'd he ended up here then?" Yang asked curiously.

"The Schnee of course." Weiss was about to bite back, but then bit her lip.

"Weiss" Yang called out the girl's name, all she could do was cry.

"W-What do you want me to say? T-That my father is a monster? That Silber is a monster? W-What do you think I can do that can make you feel better Blake?!" Weiss lashed out in utter anguish, her loud cry catching Blake off guard.

"Weiss…. I didn't" Blake couldn't finish before Weiss left their room.

"Weiss!" Ruby chased the weeping heirless, Blake after a moment of hesitation followed too.

Yang didn't join them.

All she felt was rage.

* * *

It took too long for her to find the target of her anger, she had to fight through crowds of people to do so; but when she did it proved to be very fortuitous.

He was in his oversized janitorial uniform, trying to clean up the amphitheater by himself.

He strangely wasn't wearing his gasmask as well.

He noticed her almost immediately.

"Yang." He stated monotonously, his dead blue eyes meeting her fiery ones. He needed only a single glance to discover her intentions.

"You're here for a fight." He didn't sound afraid or surprised. He simply stated it.

"Yes I am, thanks to you my team is falling apart." She cracked her knuckles and her neck in anticipation.

The amphitheater was large enough for their impromptu sparring session.

"I don't have my gear." He stated simply once more, his ugly mutilated face not changing its dull expression.

"Too bad." She walked closer and closer, her gauntleted fists ready to unleash havoc.

"I don't think school rules permit this." He said in it in a light-hearted manner, as if he wasn't going to receive the most painful beating in his life.

"Says the guy who almost broke a studen'ts neck." She charged, her fist ready to make contact with his face.

Before she was able to fire Ember Cilicia she felt something cold on her neck.

She looked downwards, a long wicked looking blade was inches from her veins. The blade tore a hole through the wrist of Silber's uniform.

"A dirty trick." Yang said through gnashed teeth.

"Only dead men play fair." He had a slight smile, it only made her angrier.

She lashed out with her other arm and missed.

She noticed he was a lot slower, back when they were fighting the Nevermore she remembered Silber moving way faster.

Still he was too fast for even her to catch.

She turned and saw him behind her, two blades from his forearms were now crossed with one another.

Yang smiled.

"You better not go easy on me." She slammed her fists together, the sound echoing across the room.

She charged again, this time not letting him slip away like the snake he was.

He was still too fast even with her caution, he dodged and weaved after every punch. Yang got only more frustrated, controlling the urge to fire her shot gauntlets inside the school.

He wasn't striking back, if he didn't strike back her semblance wouldn't work.

She went down, trying to sweep him of his legs. He easily jumped and used his wrist blade to cut her orange scarf in half.

Yang gritted her teeth, he wasn't taking her seriously. He wasn't going to fight back.

She unleashed a battle cry, her patience running thin, she fired her gauntlets back behind her back and launching herself at great speed. Silber however just casually strafed to the side.

He was annoying to fight, he was too flexible, his movement too erratic. It was like trying to fight a puppet with loose strings.

She fired her gauntlets back to the front, stopping her momentum and launching herself backwards. She tried to do a reverse lariat, but he jumped over her outstretched arm.

She tried to steady herself. Her eyes narrowing. She then noticed the strand of golden hair that was now falling slowly through the air.

"Now you've you done it!" She screamed as she finally lost her temper. She repeated her earlier tactics of using the shot gauntlet's recoil to launcher herself only this time she used the recoil again just a bit earlier before making contact with Sliber, the sudden stop surprised him as she fired her right gauntlet next to Silber's ear. The concussive force was enough to disorient him.

She then planted her other fist into his gut and unloaded.

A small cry of victory emanated from her mouth as she saw Silber getting flung across the room.

Her small moment of joy quickly turned into concern as she noticed he was still on the floor, unmoving.

She ran by Silber's side, her eyes widened in horror as she saw the blood pooling beneath him.

His skin was getting paler, his blue eyes almost fading.

"Y-You're good Yang….. you're really good." He was choking on his own blood with a bright and relieved smile.

"What do you think you're doing!? Use your semblance you idiot!" She bent downwards, trying the staunch the wound on his gut.

Why wasn't he using his semblance?

"I… can't…don't…have ….dust…" He was smiling, why was he smiling?

She felt a stab of revulsion in her heart.

She had done this.

She didn't want to.

She was angry. She wasn't thinking straight.

"SILBER STOP FOOLING AROUND!" She tore out her skirt, using it as a makeshift gauze for his wound just like how Ruby did with her cloak. She didn't know if it was effective.

"Y-You're … good… worthy… killing … Faunus…hunter." Every word was a struggle to breath, every breath a step closer to death.

"Shut up!" She yelled as she tried her best to make sure he was still breathing.

He weakly raised his cold metallic hand, caressing her face and staining it with blood.

"It's….alright… leave…die…peace…" Yang couldn't understand what had gotten into him, it had been only two days when he was ranting about wanting to kill every Faunus. Now he was the one who wanted to die?

"I'm not going to leave you here." Even in the verge of death there was no change of expression.

With surprising venom and strength he pushed Yang away. His bloody palm knocking her on her butt.

But Yang refused to budge.

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE!" She shouted furiously through resolute tears.

Now she didn't care if she was going to make things worse, she needed to bring him to the infirmary asap.

She heaved him over her shoulders, surprisingly heavy for such a spry guy.

* * *

Where was everyone?

She felt the sticky dried blood that was staining her favorite jungle. She didn't remember where the infirmary was. The bleeding had stopped thankfully; but that wasn't going to last long.

"Why… are you doing this?" Silber was surprisingly still conscious, even after losing so much of his blood. He was tough.

"I'm not a killer Silber." She stated simply as she tried navigating through the corridors.

Weren't there cameras over the place? Why didn't anyone pick anything up? Jeez even if it's the weekend that's no excuse to not be in school.

"My name…isn't Silber." He sounded delirious.

"What's your real name then?" She decided to humor him, if he was talking then he was still alive.

"Karl…Ruprecht…. Kroenen." Everything about that name sounded weird to Yang; she didn't think she'd known anyone with such a name.

"Man your parents must be some weird people if they gave you that name. "Yang attempted to joke, even with a dying assassin on her back she wasn't going to stop trying her best to be optimistic.

"My parents are dead." Yang bit her lip, she started feeling horrible now. Even if the person was Silber, or Kroenen apparently.

"Don't expect me to pity you." Yang said without thinking, still angry at Silber for causing so much headaches for her team.

"I don't… pity is a luxury … for the weak." Yang felt irritated at the word weak.

"Not everyone is so strong and edgy like you mister genocide." Yang didn't want to sound condescending, but Kroenen's attitude was half the reason he was bleeding all over her.

Kroenen was silent for a while.

"Kroenen?" She hoped he was just angry at her for the caustic comment and not dead.

"You…shouldn't…be here…" Silber said finally, Yang was pretty sure they were close to the infirmary now.

Damn it he was really freaking heavy.

"Why?" Yang picked up the pace now, well tried to.

"Women…shouldn't...be doing this…" Yang rolled her eyes, so he was sexist too?

"Stuff it Kroenen. We're almost there."

"Pretty girls…..should…. enjoy life…not…..exposed…..death." Yang couldn't help but blush a bit at his compliment, too bad intolerant jerks weren't her type.

Pity, Silber had really pretty eyes.

"I can handle myself." So, close now. She saw the big obvious sign that had INFIRMARY written with big block letters.

She swore that if through some twist of fate it was closed she would break in.

"You're…..strong…..but….can you kill…." She looked inside the infirmary door.

Oh no.

Where was the nurse? The doctor?

Was Beacon the most understaffed Huntsmen academy in the entirety of Remnant?

"Aghhhhh!" She kicked down the door. Not caring if she was breaking any rules.

She threw Silber onto the nearest bed, probably not the best thing to do for someone with a bleeding wound.

She carefully tore off his tacky janitorial uniform.

Blushing as she noticed the abs that were so clear for her to see. Her blush quickly receding as she noticed the bloodstained gauze that was once her skirt.

"Do you know…..how to treat a wound?" Yang just sheepishly shook her head.

"Disinfectant…" Finally, it looked like Silber was cooperating, as he pressed his hands heavily on the wound that she inflicted.

"Remove…. gauntlets…clean…hands…" Yang followed his instructions diligently hoping that she was going to be able to do this.

* * *

That was the most harrowing experience she's ever had, preforming surgery was something she definitely did not expect to do in Beacon.

She sat next to her quiet patient, wiping away the sweat. Taking a glance at her bloody clothes and frowning. This was her favorite outfit.

"I wasn't supposed to live." Silber spoke for the first time.

"Oh stop being so dramatic." Yang sighed out.

She took a good long stare at Kroenen's body.

It looked so broken, wracked with scars. So much of it replaced by metal or plastic. It looked like it was put through torture.

She didn't know why she felt such an intense sadness looking at him.

"I thought you said you wouldn't pity me." He looked at the ceiling, he looked oddly calm for someone who almost died.

"I'm just wondering how you managed to last so long without using your semblance or aura." She responded back.

"Training and exercise." Yang wasn't sure if he was joking.

"How'd you lose the arms?" Since she was stuck here might as well enjoy some conversation.

"A bull ate them." Again, Yang didn't appreciate the joking.

"Fine." She crossed her arms, turning her face towards the setting sun through the window.

"I was serious when I said I wasn't supposed to live. How plausible is it that we didn't encounter one single person coming here?" Yang didn't want to admit it, but Silber had a point. She was pretty sure she could have met the girls at least once.

"Ozpin is out to get you maybe?" Yang half-joked. Silber's nod meant that he considered the possibility.

"Check your scroll." Yang didn't understand, but decided to do so anyway.

There was a veritable flood of messages, Yang's face faulted at her forgetfulness.

She put it on silent.

She read through the messages, dozens from Ruby and one from Beacon.

"There's an emergency drill. Everyone had to evacuate." Yang's eyebrows twitched as she had a dawning realization.

"That's weird. Why didn't the both of us notice anything?" Yang's face faulted.

So that was why so many people were leaving the school grounds when she was bustling around looking for Silber.

"You didn't notice didn't you?" Yang got flustered.

"I was furious! What's your excuse?!" Silber turned his neck towards her.

"Spent the entire day as a janitor." Yang couldn't help but find that excuse more justifiable than hers.

Things became quiet again.

"so should I call you Karl or Silber?" Silber pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously bothered by the question.

"I was hoping that was just a blood loss induced dream." He groaned, the most emotional she's ever seen him.

"I guess it's Silber then?" Silber looked back at her with his blue ocean eyes.

"Do what you will." He stated simply.

He was more hardheaded than Blake.

"Why aren't you leaving? I'm not dying anymore." Yang smirked back at him, of course he wanted her to leave. That was why she wasn't going to.

"Since everyone's gone, I just can't leave a recovering patient by himself." She was elated when she noticed the irritated scowl on Silber's face. It seemed she was finally getting under his skin.

"This isn't the first time I've gotten injured, won't be the first time alone if you left." Now that was just sad.

"Come on don't be so stubborn. I bet you're secretly enjoying this pretty girl looking over you?" She gave him a playful smile, making a v sign over her eye.

She stopped when she noticed the look on his face.

A deep and sad frown.

Someone with Silber's face shouldn't be capable of such a miserable looking expression.

"Are you okay?" Silber resumed his pokerface, staring back at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing ever.

"I'm fine." He said gruffly.

"You really don't want me here huh?" She didn't get a response for the longest time.

"Why do you fight?" She was almost about to stand up and leave when he asked that question.

This was the first time she's ever seen Silber be proactive in something.

She didn't expect that question to be too complex for her to give a good answer to.

"The Grimm need to be stopped." She decided she was going to play safe.

"The Grimm can never be stopped." That was a reasonable answer, no one really knew what the Grimm were anyway.

"Still doesn't hurt to try, you're the one who said life is a struggle didn't you?" She turned his words back to her.

"So you listened?" He was slightly surprised.

"Not like we had a choice, you were being obnoxiously loud." Silber was quiet again.

"You really believe in it huh?" Yang didn't enjoy Silber's little rant, but she couldn't deny that he sounded like he really thought it was the truth.

That life was only about struggle and killing.

"The gist of it yes, but not the entirety of it. "Now this Yang needed to hear.

"So there's more to it than 'killkillkill'?" She repeated the word kill whilst imitating his thick Bavarian accent, Kroenen couldn't help but smile by how good it was.

"No one can live life by themselves." Yang perked her ears up in curiosity.

"Even the most solitary of creatures need to interact with one another no matter how minute. Hence a race can die, but individuals of such a race can still be alive. It's why we have packs, prides, herds and civilization. A man cannot exist by himself. He cannot be a perfect being independent of outside phenomena." Yang took this in with some skepticism.

"So united we stand divided we fall?" Silber nodded.

"Very close to that idiom." Yang couldn't help but agree.

"But you're quite the lonely one, aren't you? You don't even have a team." Silber just remained quiet.

"You are correct." He said tersely.

"So why don't you stop being alone?" That question seemed to have Silber pause for a moment.

"It's something I've discovered for myself only recently." Yang noted the tiny hint of sadness in his voice.

She stared at him, at how exposed and vulnerable he looked.

He was different from the raving lunatic back at the dining room.

She noticed how weak his breathing was, the bloodied bandages wrapped around his abdomen was rising and lowering with each ragged breath. She couldn't imagine the sheer pain he was experiencing.

Silber was really tough, but even tough guys had their weaknesses.

"I'm sorry." She apologized finally.

"Save your apology for someone who wants it." She should have been angry at how rude he was being, but she somehow understood why he was so prickly now.

He was alone.

"Fine." Yang said apathetically, she wasn't going to waste any more of her time with someone stubborn as him then.

The quiet interludes in their conversations were getting less awkward now, both realizing it might be for the best.

"Do you like my sister?" This probably the longest she's ever talked to Silber without Ruby nearby. She decided to take this opportunity.

Silber didn't seem all that enthusiastic.

"Define like." Yang wasn't going to let him get away too easily.

"Kissing on a tree." Silber just frowned.

"No. She's too young." Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least you have some standards." She mockingly wiped her forehead of imaginary sweat.

"Why do you even ask me? Don't you talk about stuff other than crushes?" Yang couldn't help but purse her lips.

"Hey now, we girls don't always think about guys. We talk about stuff like pretty dresses and makeup." She was surprised that their conversation started becoming a lot warmer than before.

"Not weapons?" Yang grew excited at the word.

"Oh you should see Ruby mouth off when you talk about weapons! I think that's the reason she's so into you! She's really obsessed with you checking out Crescent Rose and work on-"Then Yang remembered Ruby's face when she found out the truth about Silber

"I bet she hates me now doesn't she." Silber sounded quite sober when asking that question.

"That's too strong a word to use with Ruby. She's disappointed at worse." Yang smiled slightly, when it came to her sister she was very overly protective.

"You love her don't you?" Yang couldn't believe he just said the L word.

"Yeah? We're sisters? What you think family is weak to-"Then she remembered.

Silber's parents were dead.

"I-I didn't mean to say that." She covered her mouth, greatly embarrassed by her crassness.

Silber didn't seem all that bothered.

"They died a long time ago, I can no longer remember them." Yang couldn't help but feel pity, she couldn't imagine forgetting her parents.

"Who raised you then?" It was getting quite dark now, but learning more about Silber was just an opportunity too tantalizing to resist.

"Myself" That explains so much.

"Must have been difficult." Yang couldn't imagine raising herself and Ruby, they were too close to dad.

"Life is difficult." Yang agreed completely.

"Yang" This was a first, he was calling out to her.

"What's it like having a family?" This was an easy question.

"Being harassed by an annoying sister and an annoying dad." She smiled blissfully.

"What about mom?"

There was a long silence.

"I don't know where mom is." Yang said softly, the first time she's every sounded so quiet.

"Dead?" Yang shook her head.

"She abandoned us when we were young." There was a tinge of bitterness in her words.

"Do you know why?" Yang felt her fists balling up.

"That's what I want to know too." She tried to calm herself, this was not the first time she mulled over her mother.

"I think she must have had a good reason." Silber sounded so much calmer now, maybe the blood loss was affecting him more than she thought it did.

"Why?" Silber broke away his gaze towards the ceiling, his soft blue eyes shining even in the relative darkness.

What gave him a right to answer so casually? What made him think he could so easily lull her when her own father failed to do so? What could he possibly do that could help her understand why mom left?

"You need to see what I see looking at you. I sincerely doubt any mother would leave a daughter like you. "He said with a slight smile.

Yang felt butterflies in her stomach as their eyes made contact.

She slapped her forehead after she realized what he was doing.

"Remember you're flirting with my sister! Don't start flirting with me too!" She shook her head out of her stupor, chastising Silber for his suaveness.

All Silber did was sigh.

"I don't understand why every female I talk to thinks I'm flirting with them. All I'm doing is stating sentences I assume are 'nice'." He complained.

"It's the way you say it and how you look at them that makes them think you're flirting." Yang collected herself now.

"This is why I wear the gasmask." Yang giggled at that joke. A surprising first.

"What made you say that though, in all seriousness." Yang's inner voice told her she was going to regret that question.

"You are like the Sun." She never was the kind to get metaphors.

"You burn with an intensity; you have the capacity to kill and to destroy. So far in this academy. You are the one person I am confident who is able to kill." Yang didn't know if she liked being complimented on her bloodlust.

"But yet you shine brilliantly, even if so destructive, as beautiful as the dimming sunset or radiant dawn." Yang felt her ears heat up, she wasn't expecting a love poem now.

"O-Okay you're being a bit too dramatic now." She waved him off.

"You asked for it." He seemed to be blissfully unaware how skilled he was in charming a girl.

"I didn't expect you to go overboard." She rubbed her head nervously.

A large buzzing noise interrupted them.

Yang took out her scroll, her jaw dropping as she saw the hundreds of messages from Ruby.

"I thought you answered them." Yang snarled at him, she wasn't asking for his input!

"Looks like I'll need to go. I'm going to inform Ozpin about this." She took one final look at Silber, he was sitting upright now. He looked a lot healthier.

"Great, I bet he's going to blame me for this too." Yang stood over him, a beaming smile.

"Don't worry, I'll tell him it was me who made a mess in the amphitheater. Who knows I might end up helping you as a janitor myself." Silber just looked at her, specifically somewhere slightly below the chin.

"I don't think they make uniforms your size." Yang grabbed her chest and turned, clearly indignant at where he was staring.

"Avert your gaze! These were not meant to be seen by eyes such as yours!" She declared dramatically.

"I can see where Ruby got her dorkness from." Yang stuck out her tongue, hurriedly leaving the room.

"Goodnight! Don't let the Bed Grimm Bite!" She cheerful said her goodbyes.

All Silber did was wave a hand.

* * *

She walked down the corridor, frantically answering every of Ruby's messages.

Some big sister she turned out to be.

 _'You are like the Sun.'  
_  
Her pace slowed down as she remembered her long talk with Silber.

 _'My parents are dead'_

She warned him she wasn't going to pity him.

 _A man cannot exist by himself_

She looked back, wondering what Silber was thinking right now. _  
_  
_What's it like having a family_

She warned him.

She stood in the middle of the darkened hallway, she remembered how she obsessed with finding out just what had happened to her mom. How she nearly got Ruby and herself killed.

She couldn't imagine the pain she'd feel if both of her parents had died.

She told herself she shouldn't sympathize with him.

He was an assassin, a killer and a racist. It was more likely he was lying than actually confessing to her. She had half the mind to think he was lying about that weird name.

Yet Yang couldn't shake off this funny feeling, that she had just seen Silber at his most vulnerable. That he talked to her like he had never talked to anyone before.

That he had just told her he was alone.

She knew it was a bad idea to feel sorry for someone like Silber, she kept reminding herself just what he had done back in the dining room. What he did to Ruby and Weiss and Blake.

But the heart is not the most rational of organs.

Silber said she was like the Sun.

Yang thought he was like Lightning.

He was quick and destructive. Yet even if so terrifying, he was almost hypnotizing to watch up close. If one didn't look fast enough one couldn't see the brightness within.

Looks like whatever gave Silber his poetic flair is contagious.


End file.
